Send Her My Love
by GleekMomma
Summary: Tales of the revolving roommates and relationships within the Bushwick loft. Mostly canon prior to "I Do", although Finn did NOT kiss Emma in this universe. I have edited Chapter 6 and beyond to keep it within M guidelines for this site. The explicit version is at /works/743863?view full work true .
1. Sondheim or Schwartz?

She sat on the airplane looking out the window at the expanse of steel gray, it's swirling abyss a metaphor for her tumultuous emotions. She was trying to move on and grow up on her own. She was happy with her career progress in school, but there was something missing in her life. She knew that something was Finn, but just couldn't deal with it, constantly masking it with distractions. Sure, Brody was nice to look at, and he seemed to appreciate her and her talent, but the relationship was otherwise flat. She sighed, realizing that seeing Finn was going to be awkward, given that her boyfriend? lover? friend? was living with her and he probably knew that since he regularly talked to Kurt and because she had changed her relationship status on Facebook. Shacked up. Yes, that was the appropriate term, despite her distaste for its vulgarity. He lived with her, they occasionally had sex, but she'd be lying if she said she ever engaged in a full orgasmic experience with him. She had come close, because she knew what she needed to get there, but then working at it just became too much trouble and it was easier to work on her acting for sex scenes, rather than working at having an actual orgasm. And then she'd feel guilty afterward and curl up on her own side of the bed. It was nice having someone to take to dinner or to NYADA networking events, and Brody was, if nothing else, a more experienced thespian, happy to dispense advice when needed, even if some of it was misguided, like his support of her doing a topless scene in a student film. Thank goodness for Santana making her doubt whether she wanted to immortalize her breasts on film while still in school, on a play that was of dubious quality.

"Attention passengers. We will be completing our final descent into Dayton International. We will have you on the ground in about 20 minutes. Thank you for flying US Airways."

She sighed again and decided that she was going to enjoy Mr. Schuester's wedding and try not to dwell on the awkwardness with Finn, and just try her best to be his friend again. After all, they did talk occasionally, and when they weren't breaking up, they always had fun together. Especially if they were dressed up. "RACHEL!", squawked Kurt, clearly startled awake next to her, looking at her with a look of horror, "Rachel, WHAT are you doing?" "Huh?" "I woke up and when I looked over, you had a dreamy look in your eye, and your hands are in places I don't even want to think of. You're on an airplane and you haven't been away from Brody more than 3 hours!" Looking down, she realized that one had was cupping her breast and the other was wedged between her legs, and her mouth fell open and her cheeks flushed to scarlet. "Uhhh, wow. I am embarrassed.", she said, clearly not having registered what she was even doing, leaving Kurt to raise an eyebrow at her and very carefully ask, "May I ask what you were daydreaming about that led you to inadvertently touch yourself on a very public flight?" "Oh GOD! Oh my GOD. FUCK!" was all she could sputter out as she buried her face in Kurt's shoulder. Kurt's face contorted to form a small, knowing, "oh", and put his arm around her, soothing her. He knew he should've said something to let her know that this was a sign that she really needed to break it off with Brody and focus on herself, so that when his slow thinking brother finally came to the conclusion that he was meant to be a music teacher, leading his own glee club, and realized that there were schools for that (which would accept him despite his mediocre grades prior to Senior year), she would be ready to have the whole package again. It was going to be a very interesting long weekend.

The plane touched down, Rachel and Kurt gathered their luggage, proceeding to the door to wait for Burt, the parent of the four who drew the short straw for airport pickup, when they both stopped dead when they nearly crashed into Finn. He was awkwardly holding a handwritten piece of computer paper with their names scrawled on it, and Rachel nearly melted into a puddle of goo when she noticed that he had a lopsided star, colored in even (he must have borrowed Brittany's crayons during glee), next to her name. As much as she wanted to launch herself into his arms and kiss him senseless, she took in a breath and said, "Hello Finn! Is everything okay? We were expecting Burt. Oh God, please say everything is okay. He's not in the hospital, is he? Do we need to go there now? Oh no! No. no no no no.", as her calm instantly turned to panic when she remembered that Burt was being treated for cancer, and could have been sick. "RACHEL!", he said a little too loudly, fighting the urge to kiss her as a means to calm her, "Oh, that was loud. Look, everything is fine, calm down. I offered to come get you guys since I was free. Burt's fine, I swear. He's been doing really well with his chemo treatment and can't wait to see you both at the wedding." "Oh, thank goodness.", she said breathily, finally calm again.

Kurt looked between the two of them and smiled internally, knowing that this wedding was going to maybe, FINALLY, smack some sense into Rachel. Or, maybe it would just make everything a whole lot worse, but not if he could help it. It was time to get out of the airport though, so Kurt announced, "Hey, chauffeur, can we head to our ride, so we can see everyone else, or would you two like to stand here looking dreamily at each other like old times?" He knew he took it a step too far when they both stepped away from each other in shock and stared at him with gaping mouths. Rachel sputtered, "We...no, what? We were NOT looking dreamily at one another. We were merely working out the answer to why Finn is picking us up rather than Burt." Finn then decided that rather than listen to the two roommates argue about this the whole way home, or piss off Rachel by agreeing with Kurt (after all, he knew his eyes haven't been off her since he spotted them struggling to get their luggage off the carousel), he would just diffuse the situation. "Come on, your truck chariot awaits."

"You brought the TRUCK? Why on earth would you not take Dad's SUV? It's much more comfortable and we don't all have to smoosh in the front seat and get knocked around every time you shift. Really Finn? Do you think at all?"

"Kurt, it'll be fine, come on, it's not that long a ride and I'll sit in the middle so you can keep yourself pinned to the side.", Rachel said as she turned around to walk to the door. Finn then looked over his shoulder as he grabbed the handle to Rachel's suitcase and smirked guiltily. "Oh...", Kurt thought to himself, yes, this IS going to be an interesting weekend.

Rachel was at a loss for words when she got into Finn's truck. So many memories flooded her senses, from the first time he picked her up to go bowling, from the last time he drove her home from school. Silently she was thankful that Finn chose to not bring Burt's SUV, since the only time she was in that vehicle, she felt her heart breaking into a million pieces. And just like that, her eyes welled up and she let out a hiccup. Kurt turned to look at her and said, "Rachel? What's wrong? Is the truck uncomfortable?". She took a deep breath, and said, "I'm going to be okay." She took another breath. "I'm just really glad he didn't bring the SUV." As she finished, Finn came to the door, clearly only hearing the end of her sentence, and said, "Oh Rach, I'm sorry I didn't bring the nicer car. Man, maybe Kurt's right, I just don't think."

"Finn, it's okay. You did nothing wrong." At least not in this vehicle, she thought. Kurt looked at Rachel one more time and saw that she had turned on her 'determined to be happy' face, and then looked at Finn, who, by his slowly relaxing brow and slight half smirk clearly just recognized that something was up and that it most likely had to do with Rachel's feelings toward him. Kurt saw that Finn's eyes however were not moving back to the windshield, so he had to break the reverie. "Um, Finn, can we get driving then? Are our bags secured?"

"Uh, yeah. Let's go to the exciting town of Lima, Ohio".

They drove along in silence for a few minutes, as Finn meandered out of the airport and onto the highway. Finally after about 5 minutes on the highway, with Finn focusing on the road and Rachel's eyes glassed over in thought, Kurt decided that he was going to move things along the best way the three of them knew how. "Hey Finn? Do you have an iPod cord? I still have the 'Finn-friendly' playlist". Rachel looked at Kurt with wide eyes as Finn replied, "If that's okay with Rachel, the cord should be in the glove compartment". That playlist, she was almost certain contained nearly all of Journey's greatest hits, and she was certain that she would not make it through most of them without falling completely apart. Why on Earth was Kurt doing this?, she thought. He knew full well what those songs meant to her, and that she buried those feelings deep within her, because feeling them just broke her. Kurt noticed the panic in her eyes coupled with the pained imploring look she gave him, and he simply took her hand and winked. She then covered, saying, "yeah, Kurt, whatever you want to play. I don't think there's a song on your iPod that I don't also enjoy or at least appreciate for it's contribution to the spectrum of musical genres."

Kurt hit play and "Greased Lightning" blared through the speakers while Rachel giggled at the thought that Grease was considered "Finn-Friendly", probably for the fact that he worked as a mechanic and directed the musical, rather than him actually liking the song. Finn groaned and said, "Kurt, do you know how many times I had to listen to that while working with Ryder on the solo?". "Oh Finn", Kurt replied, "I am not playing DJ here. We're listening to songs that all three of us like which are on this playlist. No special requests, no skipping." As he said "no skipping", Rachel's heart leaped out of her chest and hoped beyond hope that Kurt had the forethought to remove some of the songs that she just couldn't bear to hear. "Okay, fine. No skipping, but now you have to listen to me too. 'We'll get some purple fringe taillights and thirty inch fins, oh yeah. A Palomino dashboard and duel muffler twins, oh yeah. With new pistons, plugs and shocks I can get off my rocksYou know that I ain't bragging, she's a real pussy wagon. Grease lightning (Go, go, go)...' Rachel? Hey now, it wasn't THAT bad." He took the sight of her in, literally shaking and fighting to keep her pool of tears from falling. Wait, he thought to himself, she's not laughing, she's crying. He pulled the car over to the side of the road, and before she could protest, his arms were around her and Kurt was watching the drama unfold with his head tilted to the side in interest. She looked up at Finn and realized how close she was and jumped back, burying her head in Kurt's shoulder, saying, "it wasn't even close to bad", so quietly that Finn nearly missed it, but was bewildered just the same. Again, Kurt took charge, saying, "Finn, let's get back on the road. I'm not sure what's going on here, but let's get back to Lima in the meantime." He grabbed the iPod in his free hand and spun it to the Streisand playlist, saying, "I'm going to put on some Barbra" as the first piano notes tinkled out, signifying the beginning of "My Man". Rachel fell apart in his arms, sobbing, which led to him frantically hitting buttons until finally, though it was only a second or two later, the acoustic version of "Baby got Back" came on. That got her attention and she quickly composed herself, saying through a watery voice, "Is this the Adam's Apple version? It's surprisingly good."

"Surprisingly? Come ON Rachel, I thought we were through this already. They ARE good. And I like being in a show choir again even though it's the lowest rung on the social ladder at NYADA."

Rachel softened, "I'm not surprised it's good because it's the Adam's Apples. I'm surprised it's good because of the content and stylings of the original song."

Kurt ended up playing DJ for the rest of the car ride home, avoiding any song that had been sung by Finn and Rachel, whether as a solo or a duet, and deftly avoiding any song that had lyrics about love, lost love, reconciliation, forbidden love, or infidelity. He patted himself on the back and breathed a sigh of relief when they made it to Rachel's fathers' house without any more crying or longing looks.

After taking Rachel's bag to the door and getting back in the truck, Finn looked at Kurt with bewilderment and said, "Kurt, what's going on with her?" "I don't entirely know, Finn. She's doing great in New York. I know you don't want to hear this, but Brody moved in, and they seem comfortable and happy with each other - he parades around naked even!" Finn's mouth fell open, and much to his dismay, Kurt noticed, responding with a snarky, "Not everyone lives in fear of a gay guy seeing their junk, Finn".

"Whoa, wait, that's not why I'm surprised. I'm just surprised that Rachel is okay with him walking around like that. Wouldn't seh think it was indignant or something?"

"Indecent?", Kurt said, decoding the Finn-ism easily.

"Yeah, that."

"Well I thought it was a little ridiculous given that it was February in New York City and our apartment is a little drafty, but I didn't pay much attention to Rachel's reaction. I suppose I should have, so I could address the issue better. At the time though, she was trying to consider whether to take on a topless role in a student film, so I think that was Brody's attempt to show her that she should do it and be more comfortable with her body. Or he was just trying to make her want to do him."

Finn pulled over, stuck his head out the door and dry heaved before bringing his head back into the truck. "I'm sorry, Kurt, I want to be able to let her move on, but this makes me feel sick."

"No need to apologize, but you seemed to have missed what I said. I said he was trying to make her WANT to do him. If they have done it, it's not often and not loud. Or he's not good at it."

Finn's face lost it's pale green palor and his cheeks pinked back up to normal. Kurt spoke again, this time a bit more forcefully, "Look Finn, you know her better than anyone, and despite popular belief, you're not a total dumbass, especially when it comes to Rachel, well except when you decided to put her on a train alone to New York on what was supposed to be your WEDDING DAY." Finn's face fell and he looked pained, but Kurt continued on anyway. "You KNOW all that crying during 'Greased Lightning' and especially, 'My Man' was about you. We just don't know if it's nostalgic crying or conflicted crying or heartbroken crying or …" Kurt trailed off thoughtfully, but Finn blurted out, "It's I think my dream is over crying".

"Someone is feeling a bit cocky, don't you think? You're her dream, Finn? You? Don't get me wrong, I'd much rather that you found your dream, got your ass to New York to follow it, and that she still be with you, but her DREAM is Broadway. You should know that better than anyone, he who broke her heart to make sure that she followed that dream...Oh. Crap.". Finn pulled into the driveway and responded, "what's 'oh crap'?".

"She actually did listen to me", he said softly. Finn looked at Kurt with wild eyes, searching for how to respond and not so patiently waiting for Kurt to continue, when he just blurted out, "What did you do, Kurt?".

"When she was struggling to figure out whether she should get back together with you after the whole T-rex eating a Jew debacle in New York, I corrected her when she was saying that she had to decide between love or her dreams." Kurt paused pensively, before recalling the conversation in his mind, "I said, 'What if you can have both? Dreams aren't one-dimensional, they can include all facets of your life. When you imagine your life in New York on Broadway, what else do you see?' She instantly got tears in her eyes as she said, 'I see me singing out the last notes on stage, looking down into the first row and seeing Finn watching me mesmerized by my talent. And then, after I'm exhausted from signing countless autographs by the stage door, he breaks through the crowd, takes my arm and guides me to a cab, where we travel back to our comfortable loft, where you and Blaine are passed out on the couch, cradling a baby girl with big dark curls and cute little freckles on her dimpled face. I look up at Finn and he kisses me sweetly before we wake you two excuses for babysitters up and put our daughter to bed.' "WHAT?! You're telling me that Rachel's fantasy included a daughter?" Finn put his head in his hands and said softly, "A daughter with my dimples."

"And your nose. I forgot that part. She was very specific that the baby had your nose. I failed to point out that it would have a baby nose since babies don't really have a full-fledged nose until they're older, but that's beside the point." Kurt blurted out. Finn looked up at him, tears streaming down his face, "I screwed up so very bad. Kurt, I love her. I will never love anyone but her, and I threw it away because I am a complete idiot. I thought I was doing what she needed, but she needed me. Fuck!"

Kurt thought for a moment, "Okay, look. You screwed up. I am not sugar-coating that one. I've been picking up the pieces ever since I got to New York and it's clearly still a mess even though she's functioning and doing well at NYADA. We are going to work to fix this, but you need to get yourself together Finn and figure out what you want out of life other than her."

"I'm getting there Kurt, I really love running Glee club, I just have to figure out how to do it as a living."

Kurt stared at him incredulously, "Finn, I rescind what I said earlier about you not being a dumbass. This is easier than I thought it would be. You have the dream - you want to be a teacher, a music teacher, running a glee club, right?."

Finn nodded.

"You realize they have glee clubs and high school's in New York, right?"

Finn looked a little annoyed, but mostly bewildered, "Yeah. What's your point?"

"What do you have to do to run a glee club, Finn?"

"Know someone willing to step down. I don't know anyone but you guys in New York."

Kurt sighed, "That's only how you got to run the New Directions. You need a teaching degree and a music degree, Finn. Get thee to college, preferably in New York." Finn's face lit up and he smiled bigger than he's smiled in a long time.

"Okay, Finn, lets go in. I want to say hi to Carole and Dad before I borrow your truck to go find out what's going on with Rachel. My new purpose in life, other than getting through freshman dance with Cassie, is to get back to our original dream, which now apparently also includes Santana living with us."

After an uneventful dinner, Kurt excused himself to head over to Rachel's house, somehow avoiding the question of why he was going over there only a couple of hours after leaving her, when they saw each other all the time. Hiram however was a bit surprised when Kurt arrived on his doorstep asking to see Rachel. Kurt explained that he just wanted to make sure that Rachel wasn't going to chicken out on the dress they picked out for the wedding, and made his way up to Rachel's room. Rachel was also a bit surprised to see Kurt so soon, but was perceptive enough to know why he was there. "Kurt, I can't put my heart through this again. I am finally starting to feel ambitious again. I am finally doing more than going through the motions."

"Your singing at the Winter Showcase was 'going through the motions'? Damn, Rachel."

"That was the first time since moving to New York where I felt like I wasn't either struggling or going through the motions. But do you know why that was?"

Kurt shook his head, taking in Rachel's slowly flooding eyes, and gulped.

"Right before, I kissed Brody, and told him that I was going to start just doing stuff as if I wouldn't have the chance again. I just wanted to see what it was like. Well, it wasn't Finn, but I felt like I was moving on, and decided that I had to be done with mourning my lost love. I had to officially surrender and let life go the way it was going to go. And then that applause and the request for an encore led me to sing a Christmas song. A Christmas song Kurt! I'm JEWISH. The first time I sang a Christmas song, it was for Finn. I called him afterward. I had to hear his voice. I had decided to move on, but I couldn't not tell him about winning showcase. Nothing feels real unless I share it with him, and at that point I decided that I had to open the communication lines again. I had to be his friend at the very least." She put her head in her hands and finally let the tears fall, with Kurt's arm snuggling her.

"Rachel, do you still love Finn?"

"Of course"

"Are you IN love with him?"

"I'm sort of seeing Brody"

"That's not what I asked."

"I don't know"

"Okay, we're going to play a game. Answer as fast as you can, okay? Celine or Barbra?"

"Barbra"

"New York or LA?"

"New York"

"Sondheim or Schwartz?"

"Schwartz...hmmm I wouldn't thought I would've went with Sondheim given that I live for playing Maria, but I guess I need to be Elphaba too."

"Yes, that is a little surprising, but focus, we're not done yet. Singing or Dancing?"

"Singing"

"Airplanes or Trains"

"Airplanes"

"Finn or Brody?"

"Finn"

Both of them stared at each other for a moment before Rachel burst into tears yet again. This time she quickly composed herself and started talking again. "Kurt, thank you for that little exercise, but this is not a surprise, even if it does make me emotional. I told Finn when I broke up with him that he was my first love and that I wanted more than anything for him to be my last. That hasn't changed. I never fell out of love with him, even when I was livid with him for putting me on that train, I love him. I always will be in love with him. But I can't be with him now. He's here, he's still lost, and I have a life to live in New York. I have to have these experiences. I have to see how this relationship goes. I know it's not forever."

"Does Brody know that? He moved in Rachel. Does he know it's not forever?"

"Brody and I have decided that we're having a mature, open relationship. There are no labels."

"Wait. What?! You realize that he's probably sleeping around on you. Is that why he didn't come this weekend? Oh Rachel."

"Kurt, if he sleeps with someone else, he'll just tell me about it, but I don't think he would. And he didn't want to come this weekend because he wouldn't know anyone but me."

"Or me or Santana"

"Kurt, I don't want to argue about Brody. He's not here, and I'm okay with that. It'll give me more of a chance to catch up with our friends."

"Okay, fair enough, but I have to ask how are you going to handle seeing Finn this weekend? What happens the next time a Finchel song comes on around you two? It's Shue's wedding - there's bound to be Journey. Am I going to have my Rachel emotional outburst radar on at all times?"

"I will do my best to keep my emotions in check. It will be good acting practice. I appreciate your worry, but you should enjoy the wedding too. Have you told Blaine about Adam yet? Am I going to have to be your emotional support? Or his?"

"Blaine and I have agreed to be friends. We were friends before we dated, so I think we'll be okay."

"Okay, well I will see you Thursday, then"

"With bells on!"

"Thank you Kurt"

"No problem roomie."

Kurt left her and drove home, trying to think of how he could convince Rachel that she was making a colossal mistake with Brody. Rachel knew that the relationship was filler, why couldn't she see that she didn't need to be with someone. This wasn't a situation where Rachel needed to find herself. She knew who she was, and what she wanted, both from her career and her love life. She wanted Broadway, and she wanted Finn. The only reasons why Brody was able to get with her was her insecurity (exacerbated by being whisked away from the altar and sent away on a train by the one person she trusted the most) and that she lost hope that Finn would ever be in New York, so she figured that she needed to move on, because she couldn't wait forever. That was probably what was fueling this relationship with Brody - she needed to know that Finn wasn't the only man who could want her. She needed to be comfortable with her appeal in order to gain her confidence for auditions and for performing in general, but her heart was not even close to being Brody's. Kurt thought that maybe seeing Finn with an actual dream and a plan would be enough to fulfill the fantasy that they entertained during their senior year, conveniently leaving out his own part of that fantasy, which included Blaine as well.

This was definitely going to be an interesting weekend, he thought.


	2. Open Arms

Rachel drove to the Lima Bean with her eye twitching the whole time. Finn had called her and asked him to meet her there to talk about singing for the the wedding reception. She figured that she would be asked to sing, but thought that perhaps Mr. Schuester or Ms. Pillsbury would have contacted her rather than Finn, even though he was weirdly the best man. She was hoping to get through this weekend without too much alone time with Finn, but here she was, driving to meet him. She was probably going to be convinced to sing a romantic duet with him, which would probably lead to her crying, again, and not just because she was singing. She pulled into the Lima Bean parking lot and fought a jolt of excitement that came when she thought that maybe this meeting had nothing to do with singing and maybe Kurt had told Finn that she was still in love with him and maybe Finn was taking it upon himself to try and get back together with her. "No, Kurt would never do that to me.", she said to herself.

"Kurt would never do what?", Finn said as he slid in the passenger seat.

"AHHHHHHHGH! Oh Finn, you scared me! I thought these doors locked when the key was in the ignition!"

"You think I don't remember the key code to your dad's car? Sorry I scared you though. You must've been deep in thought if you didn't hear me unlock the door. But you didn't answer me. What would Kurt never do to you?"

Fuck. He did hear that. Think quick Rachel. "Oh, he would never swap out my dress for the wedding with one that he picked out."

Finn cocked his eyebrow and laughed, "Oh, he definitely would. But I think your dads would probably keep him out of your room for you." Finn knew that's not what she was talking about, but decided to let it go. After all, if he wanted her to sing a song with her, pushing the issue wasn't going to help at all.

"I guess you're right. Anyway, shall we go in?"

"Um, I was actually hoping that you could take us somewhere else."

"Okay, but won't we need to come back for your truck?"

"Naw...Kurt dropped me off and is borrowing it for a 'last minute addition to his wardrobe', which I think is just code for going over to Blaine's."

"Oh. Well, where to?"

"The April Rhodes Memorial Auditorium"

Rachel froze. Oh god, she thought. He's not going to propose again, is he? No. That's not possible, they haven't been together in months. Finn sensed her tension and tried to diffuse the situation. "Rachel, I just need you to practice a duet with me. I know that stage is like Jerusalem or Mecca or something for us, but I swear I didn't buy any airplane cups or lay out a picnic or anything like that."

For a second, she was disappointed that he didn't. For the love of Barbra, she thought, I am seeing someone, why in the hell am I disappointed that my ex-fiance didn't make me virgin cosmos? I just have to get through the song.

"Okay," she said brightly, "What song?"  
"Open Arms", Finn replied, cringing a little, clearly waiting for her outburst.

She giggled, "It had to be Journey, huh?"

"You know Mr. Schuester, shit, I mean Will. I really have to get used to calling him Will. It was his request that we sing that."

"Thank god it's not 'Faithfully'"

"What?"

"Oh god, I said that out loud?", she said, putting her head down on the steering wheel. "What is wrong with me?" she muttered to herself with her head still down.

Finn didn't know what to say at that moment, because he knew full well what she had blurted out, and he knew that she wasn't over him, but wanted to respect her space too. He finally figured that he just needed to move things along.

"Hey Rach? It's okay. Can we just go and practice?"

She looked at him and he could see how grateful she was that he just let the awkward moment pass and moved them toward normalcy with something procedural. She nodded, and drove them to McKinley without incident.

They walked onto the stage and Rachel was surprised that the band wasn't there yet. Finn noticed her looking around and let her know that he was unable to get the band to come in, so they would just have to practice without them.

Rachel's mind was racing at that point, fighting internal panic about her ability to control herself being alone with Finn, and not in a populated coffee shop, like she had originally thought.

Finn broke her thoughts though, asking, "Hey, do you want to alternate lines in the verses at first and just sort of feel out when to harmonize? We should definitely sing the chorus together though."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. You should start though, since you're the best man."

"Okay, here it goes._ 'Lying beside you, here in the dark'_"  
_"Feeling your heart beat with mine"_  
_"Softly you whisper, you're so sincere"_  
_"How could our love be so blind?"_  
Rachel's eyes started to fill with unfallen tears as Finn took the next line as planned,_ " We sailed on together'_. Her voice started to crack as she reached the line _"We drifted apart"_, but she kept singing as Finn harmonized with her for,_ "And here you are by my side"_

They sang the rest together, Rachel gradually controlling her emotions and taking on her performance persona.

_So now I come to you, with open arms_  
_Nothing to hide, believe what I say_  
_So here I am with open arms_  
_Hoping you'll see what your love means to me_  
_Open arms_

_Living without you, living alone_  
_This empty house seems so cold_  
_Wanting to hold you, wanting you near_  
_How much I wanted you home_

_But now that you've come back_  
_Turned night into day_

She reached the last line of verse and her facade cracked, noticing that Finn stopped harmonizing and let her sing it alone, which she did looking straight into his eyes, _"I need you to stay."_ Then, instead of singing the chorus again, she let her tears fall and fell into Finn's waiting arms.

She wasn't sure how long she was in his arms before she noticed that her hair was getting wet and looked up to see that Finn's face was just as red and streaked with tear tracks as hers was. He answered her look with, "We're both kind of a mess, huh?"

"Yeah, you could say that. Um, what are our chances of being able to get through that song at the wedding without doing this again or ending up with a lot of uncomfortable wedding guests?"

"Maybe we got the tension out of the way? Maybe if we practice a few more times, we can keep 'PerformingRachel' on the the stage and keep 'FinchelFeelings' out of it? I know it'll be rough for me, and judging from what just happened, it won't be a cakewalk for you either, but can we try again? For what it's worth, your voice has gotten even more amazing. I don't feel worthy of a duet with you. Maybe you should just sing it."

"NO! I am singing this with you or not at all. You know I sing best when I feel something, and well, I can't lie. This song makes me feel something. I think it'll be easier with you on stage with me than if you were in the audience transfixed on me. Besides, I have really missed singing with you." Rachel paused before whispering under her breath, "I've missed everything about you".

"Okay, well then lets do that again. I think the way we did it was good and we just have to add on the last chorus, probably with you doing some crazy sick vocal magic at the end."

Rachel giggled at his description of how she should end the song, when he started singing again.

During the whole afternoon Rachel tried to reign in her swelling heart and control her urge to cry over the mess that she was in. She considered cheating on Brody, and reasoned that it wasn't actually cheating because they were undefined, and at some level, she was pretty sure that Brody knew that he was the second choice. It was agony being in such close physical proximity to Finn. She could feel that he was just as much in love with her as she was with him, and yet unable to do anything about it because she was stupid enough to ask Brody to move in with her and felt guilty.

Finn's head was equally turbulent, contemplating whether he wanted to make Rachel cheat. He was fighting the urge to kiss her the entire afternoon. He knew that she would kiss him back. He knew the look in her eye when she wanted him, and he knew that she was trying to mask that look with her patented 'RachelBerryPerformanceFace', but she was failing miserably. But he didn't want to force her into cheating, because he knew what it felt like to be cheated on by someone as incredible as Rachel. He tried convincing himself that it wasn't cheating because she would be following her heart rather than following some arbitrary rules of dating, but he also didn't want to make this any more awkward than it already was.

It torture for them to sing 'Open Arms' over and over again, when the lyrics carried so much meaning for their current situation, but they eventually made it through the song three times in a row without anyone crying profusely.

As Rachel was belting out the last note, Finn moved behind her, put his arms around her and whispered in her ear, "We did it! We don't have to disappoint Mr. Schue. Err.. Wll." With his arms around her and his breath softly tickling her ear, Rachel spun around, put her hands on his cheeks, pulling him down just enough for her to softly kiss his lips. She lowered her heels to the ground, looked up into his tearing eyes, and then, much to Finn's surprise, launched herself at him, hooking her arms around his neck as her legs clamped around his waist, and kissed him again, this time nearly breaking their teeth with the force. Finn quickly supported her weight with one arm under her butt, and the other pulling her torso into his, deepening the kiss, caressing her lips with his tongue before plunging in. When his arm started to shake from holding her up, he sat down, holding her in his lap, their mouths still attached in what might be their longest non-interrupted kiss, ever. Sensing the change in position, Rachel pulled away to breath, giving Finn a moment to collect himself and, still holding her, choking out, "Rachel, Brody?". He was expecting her to freak out and scramble off his lap, realizing what she had just done, and where it could lead, but she stayed where she was and replied, "I love you. Emphasis on the you." She tilted her head and rested it on his shoulder, but in doing so caught a glimpse of the clock backstage, and yelled, "Oh NOOOO!" 'Oh, there's the freakout', thought Finn. "I told my dad's I'd be back by 6 and it's already 6:30. Do you want to come with me? We're just going out to dinner tonight. I could drop you off but I'm already late."

"Whatever you want. I have no plans until tomorrow." 'Wow, did I really just say that? What if she thinks I'm trying to spend the whole night with her? I am, but I don't want her to feel that way. Oh crap. She's looking at me, she knows exactly what I'm thinking.' Finn thought to himself as he gathered up the sheet music and headed to the door.

"Okay!", Rachel said brightly, "Then you're coming with me, Mr. Hudson. Dad and Daddy will be so happy to see you again!"

"Sounds great!", Finn replied, but his happy tone dropped once he started to panic about seeing Rachel's dads again. The last time he saw them was when he came over to talk to them about cancelling their wedding and putting Rachel on the train. Finn couldn't help but think about how thrilled they were that he was putting Rachel first.

The day Hiram and Leroy approached him with their "Save Rachel's Future" plan, he felt sucker punched. While he knew that she needed to move full steam ahead on her education, he was hoping that he could figure out how to get there with her, married. But her fathers instead invited him over when Rachel was out, to tell him that they wanted him to convince her to go. They told him that "we think that you and Rachel are a wonderful couple, but we think that she should go off to college alone at first. If you were meant to be, the universe will bring you back together." He was heartbroken, since they wanted her to take the train out on what was supposed to be their wedding day. But, he eventually agreed after thinking about how special and talented she was and how he didn't want to hold her back. He loved her so much that he was willing to let her go so that she could make her dreams come true. He should've talked to Kurt more, but he panicked and decided that if he couldn't be in New York with Rachel, then it was better to be where she couldn't go, someplace that didn't have memories of her everywhere, and where he could meet one of his goals of redeeming his father. So he enlisted and did his best to fall off the grid after he was discharged. Telling her that he was setting her free was by far the most difficult thing that he's ever had to do, and now, he regretted agreeing to it in the first place. However, he couldn't help but smirk at the thought that it looked like the universe was being kinder to him and Rachel than it was to her dads, based on what had just happened, which was like the Captain Universe of kisses (that's better than the Superman of kisses, right?). Then he remembered that he was going to have to see her dads, today, in a few minutes. His face paled as he sat in the passenger seat approaching Rachel's house.

"Finn, you're as white as a ghost. Are you okay?"

"Uh. Yeah. I'm just nervous about seeing your dads, that's all."

"Nervous? Why? They love you."

"Yeah, I guess that's why they wanted me out of your life", Finn muttered to himself, forgetting that Rachel hears everything.

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I'm fine. Let's just go in."

"You did NOT just say nothing. I heard it, but I'm not sure why you said that."

"Shit. I - Look.."  
Rachel cut him off, "Language, Finn"

He continued, "Can we just forget I muttered anything? It's not important."

"Oh it most certainly is important if you're trying to cover up that you said that. Finn, why would you think that they wanted you out of my life? They love you, Finn. They CRIED when you set me free to go to New York."

Finn sighed and thought that he might as well just tell her the truth and just blurted it all out, "Well then they're really good actors too, because they asked me to do that. They love you, not me. They wanted you to go to NYADA without me, to experience college uninhibited by me. They are the ones that even told ME that if we were meant to be that the universe would do its thing. I liked that part of it, which is why I used their words in the car at the train station. Because I know we're tethered, and I know we're meant to be, and while it was ultimately my decision to set you free, because I knew it would get you where you needed to be, it wasn't my idea to do that. I would never blame them for doing what they thought was best for their daughter, and I did it because I love you too much to see you wait a single second to reach your dreams, but that wasn't how I had envisioned things going."

"Oh my god.", Rachel said weakly, tears staining her cheeks yet again.

"I said too much. I'm sorry, I am not blaming them. I take ownership of this. This was my mistake. I went to the army because I knew that you couldn't follow me there and because I wouldn't be haunted by your ghost there, like I would in Lima. I should have kept talking to you though and this is my mess to right. I never should have told you that. I got nervous and it just bubbled out of me. That was the last time I saw them."

Rachel narrowed her eyes and for a second, Finn thought he was going to suffer the wrath of Rachel going chick-batty on him, but she just said calmly, "The universe is doing it's thing, Finn. You're my boyfriend and -"  
"Um Brody?", Finn interrupted.  
"Is not my boyfriend. Not officially. We have an open relationship. Anyway, like I was saying, YOU are my boyfriend, and we are having dinner with my fathers, and they are going to witness just how much the universe is in our favor."

"Wait, so I'm just your boyfriend to get back your fathers?"

"No silly, you're my boyfriend because I love you. Damn, I wish I had my engagement ring here, that would REALLY show them that they can't mess with Finchel."

"You sold your ring?"

"No. It's in New York in my jewelry box, sitting next to my Finn necklace and my star necklace. Do you really doubt how I feel about you that much?"

"Well you did start dating another guy."

Rachel took a deep breath, not wanting to get into all of this now, and trying to think of how to diffuse this talk for now.

"I know. Because I was lost, and hurt, and I didn't think you'd ever come back to me, and I've never really had anyone other than you attracted to me.", Rachel's voice started to waver.

"Well Puck was, and Jesse."

"Finn, Puck has really eclectic taste in women, so that's hardly an ego boost and Jesse made an omelet on my head" Rachel warned, "Also, not the point. I know we'll have a lot to work out and we will, in time, but right now, we're really late for dinner and I just want you to be my boyfriend right now."

Her eyes softened when she looked at him and asked gently, "Can you please be my loving boyfriend again?"

"I'll be your loving whatever you want right now."

Rachel kissed him and said, "Thank you. Now lets go in. This should be interesting."

Finn held her hand and they walked in together.

"Dads! Sorry we're late, we got caught up practicing for the wedding!", Rachel yelled as they walked into the house.

"We? I thought Brody wasn't coming to Lima for the wedding?", Leroy said as he walked in from the kitchen and stopped dead upon seeing Rachel and Finn standing there holding hands. "Oh, hello Finn. Long time, no see"

"I'm confused", Hiram added as he too came down the stairs. "Did I wake up in 2012 instead of 2013?"

"No Daddy, you're awake in 2013. Finn and I were asked to sing a duet for Will and Emma's wedding and after talking while practicing this afternoon, we decided that we are together again."

"No. Finn is here and you are in New York, and you have a boyfriend, Rachel. You are just feeling nostalgic right now being back in Lima.", Leroy replied.

"First, everyone needs to stop calling Brody my boyfriend. Yes, we were seeing each other, but it doesn't have to be exclusive. Second, we have a lot to work out, but this isn't nostalgia. I finally feel whole again."

"Rachel, honey, we just want what's best for you." Hiram said. "We just want you to reach for your goals with nothing in the way. And Brody lives with you. So that seems pretty serious to me. Does he even know that you're with Finn right now? We didn't raise you to play with someone's heart. That's not fair."

Rachel was speechless, with a slow rage filling her as Finn wondered aloud, "Am I invisible?", since he was pretty sure that both of Rachel's fathers were siding with Brody right now, right in front of his face.

"Finn, please go up to my room. I'll meet you up there in a few minutes. You are certainly not invisible, even though my fathers, however concerned about my well being, are being rude to you. I need to talk with them and I don't want you to have to stand here and be uncomfortable. Come here first."

"Okay", Finn said as he walked over to Rachel. She gave him a hug, and then took his hand, stealthily molding it into four quick sign language letters: p - a - c - k." She was hoping that he still remembered finger spelling from when she taught him last year, so that they could send each other messages while holding hands during Glee practice. He seemed to, because he raised an eyebrow at her and she nodded, before he walked to the stairs and ascended.

He knew he was going to hear every word of this, and that Rachel WANTED him to, despite what she said about wanting him to go upstairs. He was a bit nervous, but trusted that Rachel knew what she was doing and that she obviously didn't want to stay with her dads tonight if she wanted him to pack up her stuff. He entered her room, and started putting her toiletries in their bags first, as he heard the first vehement strains of Rachel's voice nearly shake the house with her anger.

"How dare you both stand there and judge me for playing with someone's heart when you both did the very same thing back in May."

"May?"

"Yes, Daddy. MAY. The month when I was supposed to get married to the love of my life. My soul mate. My support system. My EVERYTHING.", Rachel cried out, tears falling down her already stained cheeks. "You took that all away from me when you convinced Finn that if he loved me, that he would set me free to achieve my dreams."

"We didn't force him to do anything. It was his choice. We just wanted to make sure that you went to NYADA this year.", Hiram tried to explain.

"You manipulated his emotions and preyed on his insecurity. You knew that he wasn't sure what he wanted to do with his life yet. And you used that to make him feel inadequate. You used that to make him feel like he was holding me back. You used his love for me to convince him to do what he feared most - losing me. And then, to make it worse, when he did set me free and put me on that train, alone and scared and heartbroken, he ran away to the Army, so that he could make sure that I would stay put. You could have gotten him killed, Dads."

"Rachel, you're being awfully dramatic about this, even for you."

"DRAMATIC?!" The house actually did shake a little with that outburst and Finn couldn't help but snicker at the thought of how utterly stupid Leroy was for that reply, because he was about to get lambasted by Rachel and it definitely wasn't going to be pretty.

"You think that I'm being dramatic when you took steps to end my relationship with the man I love, to basically force me into going to school, early I might add, without even a discussion with me. Sure, maybe deferring wouldn't have been a good choice, but it was my choice to make. And in case you missed it - Finn didn't think deferring was a good idea either. We were starting to talk about how to manage being in New York, even with him not in school. But you didn't trust us. You didn't trust me to know what was best for me. So instead, you set the ball rolling for months of agonizing heartbreak and loneliness, of living in a dorm with a crappy roommate, with people who make fun of my nighttime routine."

"Which also led to your meeting Brody.", Leroy pointed out.

"I DO NOT LOVE BRODY. I was interested in the fact that he was interested in me and I was feeling lonely and vulnerable. I felt hopeless about ever being with Finn again, so I let it happen, despite the fact that he slept with my awful dance instructor before we started seeing each other. We're not exclusive, so I am not cheating. And the relationship is not going to last. You don't realize that I nearly dropped out in my first month. If Kurt hadn't moved to New York, I would've fallen apart. He picked up the pieces of this mess that you created. I was heartbroken, and lost, and scared, and alone. He supported me and I finally started feeling ambitious again, right around the Winter Showcase, I might add, where I sang a song for FINN for my encore. Finn is my one true love. You both are going to have to realize that my dreams include performing on Broadway, but that part of that dream is having Finn waiting for me outside my dressing room when I'm done. I want everything life has to offer, not just a career. I CAN have both. And I will. -"

'Kurt would be so proud right now', Finn thought, as he listened to Rachel assert herself, his heart swelling with love for his girl.

"Rachel, please think about this." Hiram pleaded. "We love Finn, but are you sure that a long-distance relationship won't be distracting for you?"

"Daddy, don't you think being heartbroken and lost was MORE distracting for me? Did you not hear what I said? Can you not realize that your meddling was a mistake and that it hurt me unnecessarily? I can see that you're both blinded by the ambitious girl you want me to be so much that you can't see that I'm most ambitious and most productive, and happiest when I'm with Finn. This conversation is over. I am upset and I will be staying the night with Finn."

"You know you should be mad at Finn too. We didn't force his hand.", Leroy retorted.

"I was livid with Finn for months. But he has explained why he did what he did, and even though he had you in his head telling him that this was the best thing for me, he took ownership of this mess. I spent enough time angry at Finn. I know that what he did was purely out of love, because he was just as heartbroken as I was. You might have done this out of love too, and if that helps you sleep at night, then that's wonderful for you, but I did not need to be tricked into going to NYADA, nor torn away from my fiance ON MY WEDDING DAY to do so, which was entirely your idea. So I am angry with you both and I am done with being angry at Finn. He is forgiven. I'm going to get Finn and leave. Goodbye."

Rachel walked up the stairs to her room and was immediately greeted with a bear hug from a tear streaked Finn standing next to her pink suitcase, all packed, her room as barren as when she arrived.

"Let's get you to my house. I'll make you dinner and we can go to sleep."

"Thank you Finn. Thank you for being honest. I love you."


	3. Diva Night

Finn and Rachel walked to Finn's house mostly in silence. They were not going to borrow Rachel's father's car after that argument, and they were both accustomed to walking that short distance. Rachel broke the silence when she asked, "Is your mom and Burt going to mind if I stay the night?"

"Of course not. You used to sleep over all the time. And you're living with Kurt in New York! Don't be silly."

"I used to sleep over in Kurt's room."

Finn looked over at her, surprised. "Um, are you instigating what I think you are?"

"I think you mean insinuating, Finn", Rachel said gently, smiling. "But I like that you're trying out new vocabulary"

"Uh cool, but what are you insinuating here?"

"Don't you want me to sleep with you?"

Answer quick Finn, because you might not get another chance. "YES. Yes, Of course. Every night I wish you were in my bed with me. I just don't want you to do anything you'd regret."

"I won't.", said Rachel honestly.

Finn's face fell, already disappointed that their reunion seemed doomed. Rachel noticed this and finished her thought.

"I won't do anything I will regret. I want to sleep in your bed. But first I want to have some sleepover time with your mom and Kurt."

"Yeah, that's cool. Wait. My mom?" Finn blurted out, wondering if she was usually part of the sleepover festivities.

"Yes, she always has good perspective on things and I miss her too."

"Yeah, she's awesome", Finn said with a grin. "And maybe if you have girl talk, she'll let you sleep with me. Sleep in my bed I mean. That sounded like an innu- that thing when you make something sound like sex."

Rachel giggled, "innuendo"

"Yeah, that. Not that I don't want to do those things, because I always do, but I don't want to rush you or expect you to pick up where we left off"

"Finn, relax. Do I look offended?"

"No"

"That's because I'm not. And it might not be tonight, but I have a feeling our bodies might do some reconnecting before I go back to New York."

Finn had a goofy lopsided grin on his face all the way to his house.

They walked in the door and ran into Burt and Carole cleaning up from dinner.

"Finn, you missed dinner-." Carole started, but stopped when she saw Rachel, surprised, but instantly smiling and gave her a huge hug. "Rachel, sweetie, we have all missed you so much around here!"

"I missed you too. It's good that you missed me, because I was hoping that I might be able to stay the night and have some diva time with you and Kurt."

"Don't get enough Diva time with Kurt in New York?", Burt joked, rolling his eyes, but otherwise stayed out of the conversation, retreating to the den to watch something on TV.

"Oh Burt, you spent all day with Kurt and will get more time with Kurt later too. Rachel, I would love that!" Carole said, beaming. She could sense that something was awry, but didn't want to push, assuming that Rachel would tell her when the time came.

Finn interrupted, "Hey Mom? Are there any leftovers? Rachel and I didn't get to eat yet. We had a long practice for the wedding and then dinner with her dads sort of fell through."

"How about you help me get some food together for you two, and Rachel can settle in upstairs and see what Kurt's up to?"

"Sounds good mom."

"Thanks Carole."

When Rachel was out of earshot, Carole asked Finn, "She's going to end up in your bed tonight, isn't she?"

Finn turned bright red, and stumbled over his words, "Uh- I- Umm. I-have-no-idea-what-is-in-Rachel's-head-now-mom."

Carole hugged her son and whispered in his ear, "I hope she does. We'll just tell Burt that she's staying in Kurt's room and I'll make sure to run interference in the morning."

Finn raised his eyebrow with wide eyes, and thought to himself, 'My mom is hoping I get laid. This is new.' as he blushed deeply. Finally he found words, and told her, "Uh, thanks mom. You're all kinds of awesome."

"And you two are the best people for each other. I expect to see another son off to New York City by the time summer rolls around.", she said, winking at him.

"Oh, and Finn, after we eat, can you run out and pick up all that vegan stuff that Rachel likes from the store, so that I can have sleepover snacks for her and make you all vegan pancakes in the morning?"

"Of course, mom"

Upstairs, Rachel and Kurt were deep in conversation. Kurt was riveted with Rachel's retelling of her afternoon. He was deeply pleased with himself for confiscating Finn's truck so that he would be stranded without Rachel, who he knew would never leave Finn. But now he knew that Carole and himself had a big job to do in terms of getting Rachel to break up with Brody. He knew that Rachel wanted to be with Finn. She had just told him that Finn was her boyfriend. But she didn't seem to be dealing with the Brody living in their loft issue at all. Kurt was just about to ask her what her big plan was for that when Carole yelled up the stairs, "Rachel, honey, dinner time!"

Rachel came downstairs, and sat on a kitchen stool next to Finn, who was already eating ravenously. Rachel thanked Carole and the two of them ate quietly. When Finn finished, he asked, "hey Rach, what flavor ice cream do you want for diva night?"

"Oh Finn, I don't need anything special. You don't have to go out for me."

"Yes I do. Mom's orders."

"Well, in that case, chocolate raspberry swirl or just chocolate. Kurt likes Mint Chocolate Chip now, and you should get some for your mom too. Thanks, Finn."

Finn just smiled at her, knowing that he would do absolutely anything for her, and that he would spend the rest of his life making up for the fact that he put her on that train alone. On some level, he had his own path to follow too, but he could've followed his path while still being her fiance long-distance. Or they could've been married, but lived apart for a while to have the experiences they both needed. He couldn't change the past though, he could only move on through the present and into their future. Whatever it took, he was going to do it. He had a career purpose and his personal purpose and he was completely committed and ready for this relationship with Rachel to last forever.

Rachel was looking at him as he snapped out of his thoughts, and he said, "Go on upstairs. Your diva night is waiting for you. Have fun!"

"I love you, Finn", she said before giving him a soft kiss.

"I love you too".

When Finn and Rachel ate, Carole snuck up to Kurt's room to get caught up on whatever was happening. Rachel had told Kurt earlier that she wanted Carole to join them, and since she had already rehashed the afternoon for Kurt, he thought that he should bring Carole up to speed, so that they could all start diva night on the same page. Carole's mouth hung open when Kurt explained how Rachel's fathers convinced Finn to let her go in order to get her to NYADA, and her response was blurted out just as Rachel walked into the room, "Damn that Quinn Fabray. If she had just had her dress with her like the rest of us, Finn and Rachel would've never had to go through all this pain. They would have been married and there would've been no stopping them from being in New York together. I can't believe they did this. Oh yeah, actually, I can, since they were also planning to have Hiram fake an epileptic seizure to stop the wedding." Kurt's face was frozen in shock, both from what Carole was saying and from the fact that he could see Rachel in the doorway with tears streaming down her face, but Carole didn't notice and kept going, "They thought that reverse psychology was the way to convince Rachel and Finn to not get married. What I don't get is why they thought it was a bad idea to begin with. I mean, look -" Carole was interrupted by a huge hiccuping sob behind her and Kurt gasping at what he heard Carole just admit. Both Carole and Kurt got up to envelope Rachel in their arms and bring her over to the bed, still sobbing. When she had finally caught enough of a breath to speak, she asked, "Do you really mean that?". Carole answered her honestly, "Honey, I've known that Finn was going to marry you from the moment he first uttered your name. While I thought he'd wait to propose until you were both in New York, it wasn't really a surprise and unlike everyone else, I was actually thrilled to get to call you my daughter sooner rather than later, since I already consider you that way."

"I missed you so much", Rachel cried out, hugging Carole again.

"You too, honey. Now, no more tears. Go get your jammies on so we can get this party started."

Rachel scanned Kurt's room for her suitcase, which she left in there, knowing she'd need her pajamas for the diva night, but didn't see it. "Hey Kurt, where did my suitcase go? My jammies are in there."

"Oh, I had Kurt put it in Finn's room for you." Rachel just stared at her, turning nearly purple with embarrassment, but she continued, "I figured you'd need his cuddles tonight. We're all running interference with Burt, who is the only one in this house who still would like to think of you all as virgins. Just-"

Before they could both get an unnecessary lesson on safer sex, Kurt interrupted Carole, "On that note, here are your pajamas, Rachel. I already hung your dress for the wedding in Finn's bathroom, but if you want to use mine instead, you're more than welcome."

"Thank you. Um, I'm going to go change and come right back"

Kurt hissed quietly at Carole, "You realize they're not just going to cuddle, right? They're going to keep us up! Well except Dad, he sleeps like the dead, he won't hear them."

"Kurt, I thought you wanted them back together too."

"Of course, but they would've snuck in there together anyway, you're practically telling her to go make you grandchildren"

"No! I'm not ready for that again yet. I just don't want to take any chances that they put this off, especially with the guy that you said Santana won't stop calling Donkey Face still living with you!"

"Good point, but if I look less than awesome for seeing Blaine tomorrow-"

"You want to look awesome for Blaine tomorrow, huh?", teased Rachel as she came back in clad in her pink tank top and fuzzy black yoga pants. "I think diva night just got more interesting."

"More interesting that you possibly hooking up with my brother, your ex-fiance, while you have a boy in our apartment back in New York?"

Rachel looked like she had been slapped in the face. "I think I'll just go to bed.", she said flatly, turning toward the door.

"Rachel, no!", Carole begged. "Come back. Kurt was a bit harsh, but we know you're going through something now. Come on, let's talk it out. You'll feel better."

"I feel like a slut, even though I haven't done anything wrong."

"Wait, I thought you said you kissed Finn, like REALLY kissed him, like something he's probably already deemed the Captain America of kisses or something"

"Kurt!", Carole admonished.

"No, Carole, he's right.", Rachel sighed, "I did kiss Finn, and it was definitely me initiating it, and while my relationship with Brody is open to such experiences with others, I still feel a little guilty and a little slutty." Rachel closed her eyes, but not out of shame this time. She couldn't help but remember that kiss and how it made her feel like she had finally woken up after months of troubled sleep, finally refreshed.

"If you could go back and have a do-over of this afternoon, would you still have kissed him?", Kurt asked.

"Oh, yes", Rachel said in a dreamy voice, before registering that she was in a room with Finn's MOM and Finn's brother. "Oh God, was that out loud?"

Kurt just stared, eyes wide, while Carole just smiled knowingly.

"I don't feel guilty about doing anything with Finn. That feels right, it feels like my heart and my body are finally on the same page again. It's just that I have this other life in New York, and he's not there, and I needed to feel wanted and special again, but now I just regret starting anything, knowing that my heart would never fully be into it."

"Rachel, anyone with eyes can see that whatever you're doing, that you love Finn. But whatever this thing with Brody is, it's upsetting you that you have to make a choice.", Carole said carefully, trying to not push her own agenda while helping Rachel sort out her feelings.

"A choice? No, none of this was a choice.", Rachel said in a low voice. "My heart has always been Finn's. Brody even knows that on some level. I still flip through his pictures on my phone. I call him first when something good happens. I just haven't been strong enough to say it, or strong enough to be single in the big city when I thought I had no hope of being with Finn."

"We can let Santana call him to kick him out for you. How does that sound?", Kurt asked, grinning.

"Kurt, while I will be cooling off my whatever relationship with him, I don't want make him homeless! He was my first friend in New York. Besides, splitting the rent four ways is better than three."

"He's probably not going to be your friend after this is all over with.", Kurt pointed out.

"Probably not, and I'm more than okay with that, if it means that Finn and I can live happily ever after again, though I do hope we can at least be professional since we're going to have to see each other in school and probably perform together at some point. I will end things when we get back. It's probably not a good idea to do that over the phone when he has access to all our stuff."

Both Kurt and Carole tackle hugged her at that point.

"Well, you two weren't biased about this or anything.", Rachel giggled as Finn knocked on the door awkwardly balancing three pints of ice cream and spoons.

"Ooo, the ice cream man is here!" Kurt squealed, grabbing the mint chocolate chip off the top of Finn's pint tower, as a spoon out of his other hand. Carole grabbed the other two spoons and pints, and nudged Rachel. "Oh go say hello to my son. Then we can get back to diva night, where the next topic is harassing Kurt about his love life"

Rachel smiled shyly at Finn, before raising up on her tiptoes to give him a little peck, which Finn decided needed to be deepened, while lifting a surprised Rachel right off the ground, as she squeaked. He softened his kiss and gently put her down, where she immediately said, "Finn! Your mother is right here!"

"It's okay, I have ice cream and this one wasn't as intense as the one that's up on YouTube, so it wasn't THAT interesting to watch."

"Okay, this is weird, but I think my mom just challenged us to up our game, so she could watch it." He paused pondering something and then blurted out, " Eh, what the hell?", before dipping Rachel and ravaging her mouth with his, trying to sneak the hand furthest from his mother up her pajama top, when he was interrupted, by Kurt yelling, "Auuugh! My eyes are burning with the Finchel love again." "Yes, enough. I saw where your hand was headed, son of mine". Finn shrugged while Rachel blushed until she decided to banish him from diva night again, pushing him out the door, "I love you and I'll see you later, okay?"

"Sounds good", Finn said with a grin.

Rachel smiled dreamily, before grabbing her ice cream, and saying to Kurt, "You know, you're really lucky that your Dad and Carole like Blaine so much. I always thought my dads loved Finn, but I guess not enough, or they don't love me enough to let me be happy."

"Honey, your dads love you, I think it's just hard letting go and letting you follow your own path. They were a bit extreme in their tactics. Last year, they practically begged to let Finn stay over for Valentine's Day so you guys would fight being in close quarters. I know you're mad, and you can stay here with us as long as you want. What they did to you and Finn was bad, very, very, bad. They don't deserve your forgiveness right away, but eventually, you will want to forgive them. Probably after Finn proposes again, because we know he will soon, but sometime when it's not so raw, you will. And they will realize what they did wrong."

"Carole, I am so grateful to have you in my life. Thank you! Okay, now Kurt. What's this about needing to look good for Blaine tomorrow?"

"Well, old habits die hard. I might still be hurt that Blaine cheated on me, but I still love him and I want him to see the very best me I can put forward."

"Am I not the only one rekindling the flame with my soul mate?"

"Awww", said Carole, veritably swooning over the love Rachel had for her son.

"Really, Carole?", Kurt spit out, but continued, "But, to answer the question, I don't know. I plan on talking to Blaine at the wedding and having fun, maybe having a slow dance, but that's probably it. I do actually want to see where things go with Adam, he's a lot of fun, and has an awesome British accent, but it's hard letting go of Blaine, when I thought he was my soul mate."

Carole ignored his commentary on her swooning, but advised, "Kurt that seems smart, just be careful with Blaine's heart. From what I've heard, he still loves you, and if you do end up doing more than dance, which is known to happen at weddings, especially when you're with someone you have old patterns with, you could end up either hurt or hurting him if you're not clear about what you are to each other, especially since you were in a long term relationship once."

Rachel added, "If you communicate with him, you should be okay. But remember that Blaine does still love you, and if you're not going to get back together with him, it might be best to not give him false hope. Do you remember when Finn and I were broken up the second time?"

"How could I forget Satan-gate? Or your very public reunion at Nationals?", Kurt snarked.

"I admit, not my finest moments, but do you remember the kissing booth?"

"Oh god, I almost risked coming back to McKinley and getting beat up by Karofsky to get in line with a dollar JUST to freak Finn out.", Kurt laughed.

"My son set up a kissing booth at school?", Carole said incredulously.

Kurt gasped, "You didn't KNOW?!" and then laughed. "It was purportedly to raise money for the Glee Club because he deemed himself 'the closest thing the New Directions had for a celebrity' after winning the championship game. He was so full of himself. Oh, this is going to be fun after we hear what point Rachel is trying to make by bringing up this fine moment in Finn history. That's how Santana gave him mono!"

"I'm definitely going to need to hear more about this when Rachel's done.", Carole said, shaking her head in disbelief.

"Well, I DID get in line with a dollar, because I got it in my head that if I could get Finn to kiss me, he'd feel the sparks and not be able to be apart anymore. But do you know what he did? First, he asked if I could handle kissing him. Then when I told him that I could, he still saw right through me and kissed me on the cheek! The cheek! And I started complaining, and he had to close the booth, and muttered that he knew I wasn't okay. And then he gave me my star necklace and said that even if he couldn't be with me, that he still believed in me. After that he proceeded to make out with Quinn, who was dating Sam and gave HER mono, because he didn't know that Santana had given him mono on purpose to expose Quinn's cheating. But my point was that he still cared about me, even though he wasn't ready to forgive me or be with me again - so he didn't give me false hope and didn't risk giving me the sparks that would just open up my wounded heart more."

"I'm not sure whether to be proud of my son or smack him upside the head right now. Because that story really wants me to do both.", Carole said exasperated. "I had wondered how he managed to get mono when he wasn't dating anyone. How did Santana manage all of this?"

"She mentioned something about her sexy candy striper outfit and the nurses office and being glad that she's already had mono. She probably gave some sick kid quite the thrill.", Kurt pointed out.

"In any case, thank you for sharing that Rachel. I will talk to Blaine before the wedding. We will establish some relationship boundaries, because I don't intend to start dating him exclusively again right now. Not when we're in different states and not when I still don't trust him with my heart after what he did. Now that we have all the drama out of the way, can we have some fun with Finn? Diva night has been heavy today. We need some fun!"

"What do you have in mind?", Rachel asked.

"Well, I wonder if we can get him to retell his version of Rachel's story. You know, bring him in here for guy advice on how to forgive Blaine for cheating and what to do at the wedding if I feel something. At the worst, it will make him squirm. At best, he'll inadvertently share about the kissing booth and Carole can have her fun."

"Oh Kurt, that's brilliant. We'll try to steer it that way too.", Rachel said.

Carole looked worried though, and asked Rachel, "You'd be okay with him talking about that time again?"

"Yes. Maybe if we weren't together again, it would be painful, but this is it. There will be no more breakups. I made a huge immature mistake that led to that particular breakup, which is pretty much what Blaine did, except maybe what I did was worse, not because of my specific actions, but because of who I did them with. And in case you were unaware Carole, the back story is that I got mad that Finn failed to tell me that Santana had taken his virginity back after he broke up with me the first time, and made out with Puck to get back at him, which was infinitely stupid, because it was PUCK, and I should've known that would hurt him more than any other guy, but I was only thinking that he'd be someone willing to do it, and unfortunately didn't think about the fact that it would be hurtful because of babygate. And to make matters worse, we weren't actually together when Santana convinced him it was time to lose his virginity, whereas Finn and I were fighting, but not officially broken up when I kissed Puck. In fact, Finn probably only had intercourse with Santana because he knew I had plans to do the same with Jesse and he was a 16 year old boy. I didn't go through with it, but he did, we both lied about what we had done, but when I came clean after we got back together the first time, he didn't, and then Santana blurted it out in glee club. Somehow, he eventually forgave me after dating Quinn AGAIN, but then I got it in my head that I could only have love OR a career, so I wouldn't get back together with him in New York, which prompted him to write 'Pretending', which led to the emotion fueled "Superman of Kisses" on stage at Nationals, and well, I think you're more aware of the more recent history. So I think we paid our dues in angst and have proven that we're supposed to be together no matter what the world throws at us. So to answer your question, yes, I'm okay with going over this part of our history, particularly if it leads to some amusement with your reaction to the kissing booth."

"Wow, no wonder you can sing like you do. All that just came out in one breath. That was a lot of information in a little space."

"Yeah, Carole, you get used to that with Rachel after a while. But now you're on the same page, right?"

"Yes, thank you. Now let's make the boy squirm. I'll go get him." Carole said, chuckling as she headed to the door and across the hall to Finn's room.

Rachel and Kurt were holding hands and bouncing on the bed squealing, "this is going to be so much fun!", before composing themselves as Carole knocked on Finn's door.

Finn came to the door quickly, clad in only his pajama bottoms, and smiling, but then noticed it was his mom at the door and not Rachel, and his face fell, "Oh hi mom. What's up?"

Rachel whispered in Kurt's ears, "How is it possible he's gotten hotter even since the last time I saw him in November?", to which Kurt looked at her in horror, replying, "Oh dear god. No one is getting sleep tonight."

"Kurt, can you blame me? I haven't had a proper orgasm since the night before I left for New York."

Kurt stared at her, "You and Brody haven't, err-"

Rachel sighed, "Well, we have a couple of times, but well, um-" Kurt raised his eyebrow and Rachel just blurted out as fast as she could, in her best stage whisper, "Finn's a lot bigger and knows how to use it better." She sighed, "And doing it myself just makes me think of Finn, so-".

Kurt and Rachel were both beet red by that point and decided that it was a better idea for Kurt to braid Rachel's hair and look natural than to discuss that further as they watched Finn and Carole in the hall.

"Go put on a shirt and come in Kurt's room. He needs some advice and I think you could be helpful."

"Do I have to put on a shirt?", Finn whined, "It's always hot up here."

"Oh yes it is", Rachel said, full of lust, still staring at him.

"You know that was out loud, right Rachel?", Kurt said, holding back laughter.

"Well I suppose you don't have to, but if I have to pull you and Rachel apart to avoid a live show, then you might need to put one on. And Rachel, no need to be embarrassed. I know my Finny is good looking."

At the same time that Finn protested, "Moooom." Rachel and Kurt simultaneously, exclaimed, "Oh God" and "Finny?! Really?"

"Um-I'm going to put on a shirt and come in there in a minute."

A minute later, Finn came crashing down on the bed and bounced everyone around as he situated himself against the headboard and pulled Rachel to sit between his legs, resting on his chest.

"So this is diva time, huh? What's up?"

Rachel got right to the point, "Well you know that Kurt and Blaine are broken up because Blaine cheated on Kurt back in September."

Finn nodded, and Rachel continued, "Well, Kurt still loves Blaine, Blaine still loves Kurt, and Kurt kind of sounds like he wants to see Blaine at the wedding, because he misses him, but doesn't trust him yet, and doesn't want to start a relationship quite yet, because he's also enjoying time with Adam in New York. So we wanted to get your perspective on what he should do with the wedding, with it's heightened emotions."

"I want to also point out that I do have self control. I will be able to sing a love song with him and not end up making out right after, unlike you two.", Kurt added, looking pointedly toward Finn and Rachel snuggling.

"Hey, that's not fair!", Finn protested as Rachel just giggled.

"Finn, he just described what happened today. And on stage at our first Nationals. And countless times in Glee practice." Rachel pointed out.

"It didn't always happen. I controlled myself after your solo at Junior year Regionals. And I waited for hours after Faithfully to kiss you!"

"You wanted to kiss me after I sang 'Get it Right'? We were broken up."

"Well I don't know if this will be helpful for Kurt, but yeah, ever since I first kissed you, I've had to control myself, especially when we weren't together. But kissing you after singing 'Get it Right', which I know was directed toward me, wouldn't have been good for you or for me, so I kept it in. You know that was the moment I finally saw that I could trust you again?"

"Really?"

"Yeah, You put everything you were feeling into that song, and it was a crystallizing moment where I saw that you knew you made a mistake and that you owned up to it. You said it with words before, but I didn't feel it until that moment. And then there was the stupid mess with Quinn-". Carole took that moment to reach over and swat the back of his head. "OW. Mom, what was that for? I know it was a mistake, but I think that I had to forgive Quinn too. She made a mistake, a huge mistake, much bigger than Rachel's, but her lying about it was out of fear, and I had to come to terms with that, and make sure there was nothing there anymore. And besides, I'd like to think that I taught her an excellent lesson, without even trying. I think she realized how bad she was being when she cheated on Sam and got mono from me. She cheated twice and once got pregnant and once got mono. I don't think she'll do that again."

"So, that's all interesting, but how do I act around Blaine tomorrow? I know he's going to want to try to get back together, and I'm not opposed to wedding romance, but I'm not ready to be with him exclusively yet."

Finn sat back, clearly trying to think a little before speaking. While Rachel spoke up, "Well I suppose it depends on whether you think Blaine can handle the physical interaction and not the commitment from you."

Rachel clearly triggered the right thread in Finn's thoughts, because he said, "Yeah, Rachel's right, you have to read him. I knew that when we were broken up, I had to be careful because I knew that she would jump at the chance to be with me, but then fall apart if it didn't mean something or lead to a reconciliation." He thought for another second, and continued, "It's like that one time when Rachel came up to the kissing booth -"

"That WHAT, Finn?", Carole said, raising an eyebrow, seizing the moment at Kurt and Rachel tried to stifle their giggles.

"Shit", Finn sighed as Rachel and Kurt were doubled over and laughing uncontrollably and his mom was correcting him, "Language, Finn.".

"Urgh", Finn grunted, feeling defeated. "This better be helpful. So, Junior year after the championship win, I decided to sell my kisses to help raise funds for the glee club. It was really dumb and I ended up with mono because Santana is a bitch and wanted to raise hell because she somehow knew that Quinn had kissed me after the game and kept doing so when she was trying to figure out if she wanted me or Sam." By now Carole was laughing hysterically.

"Yeah it's hysterical, lets all laugh at Finn. I got to kiss every girl in the school except the one I wanted to."

They finally quieted down, and Rachel was about to come clean, starting to apologize, "I'm sorry we're laughing.", but then realized what he had just said. "Wait, there was a girl that you wanted to kiss that didn't come to the booth?!"

"Um, well you technically came to the booth to kiss me, but I couldn't kiss you because I knew that you wouldn't be able to handle kissing me, but not being with me, and I wasn't ready, not yet. Which was the point of my bringing it up before you all started laughing at me."

"You two really are soulmates. Rachel brought up the same story when giving advice earlier. We were laughing because she accidentally told your mom about the kissing booth, thinking it was common knowledge and we thought it would be funny to see if you would tell her yourself, and in the process maybe get some additional perspective on what I should do with Blaine."

"I was set up?", Finn said incredulously.

"I'm sorry, Finn. I didn't think I was sharing a secret. You had that booth going for days, and ended up with "the kissing disease", I figured your mom knew!", Rachel said, rubbing the back of his hand.

"It's okay, Rachel, you didn't know."

"Oh honey, don't look so dejected. It was all in good fun. And it seemed to lead you here, so all is good."

Kurt looked over at the clock and noticed that it was getting late, "Okay divas and Finn, I need my beauty sleep. Everyone out! Also, I'd like to put out a request to keep it down during your inevitable Finchel sex."

Finn and Rachel rolled their eyes as they crossed the hall to the sound of Carole admonishing Kurt, "Oh let them be! They can be as loud as they want to tonight."

Luckily they closed the door before Kurt retorted, "She hasn't had an orgasm since May, Carole, do you really want to hear your son's handiwork in her release of that kind of sexual tension?"

"May? No wonder she was drooling over him with his shirt off. Are you sure though? I thought she had a guy in new york? And even if not, that doesn't seem healthy."

"Well I can't think of why she would lie about that to me"

"Poor thing, maybe I should take her to the adult toy store to tide her over until we get Finn to New York."

"Lalalalalalalalalala I am not hearing this. Carole, go to bed please. And as someone who has gotten home during the finchel live show before, I recommend either ear plugs or similar distractions or both."

"Is she really that loud?"

"You've heard her sing, what do you think? Also, she's not the only singer in there."

"Oh dear lord. I'm going to bed now! Goodnight Kurt."

Rachel was surprised to walk into Finn's room and see it neat and clean. The bed was even made.

Finn noticed her surprise and said, "Not having homework really helps with keeping my room clean. I like it like this. More organized, like yours."

Rachel smiled at him but then looked down at her feet. She was thinking to herself that she was capable of keeping quiet sometimes, despite the fact that they were known for being loud when they thought they were either alone or when they thought that they were quieter than the ambient noise around them (who would've thought that they could be louder than the hallway noise when they were in the janitor's closet at McKinley?). But there was a limit to how quiet she could be when she wasn't all pent up, and this situation was especially emotional, which made her even more vocal.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"Finn, I love you, and you have no idea how much I want to make love to you right now." She paused, "But-"

"We can just cuddle tonight, Rachel. I know we still have a lot to work out and that you're upset about your dads."

"Its not that actually. Its um- well- I haven't been satisfied in that way since May and there is no way I will be able to stay quiet.", she said, blushing.

"MAY?! Not even by yourself? I thought that with you living with that Brody guy, that you would have, you know."

Rachel sighed, "I am so sorry Finn. I did have sex with Brody a couple of times. I was looking for a release that I couldn't get on my own, because every time I tried, I thought of you and then I'd end up crying, which was not conducive to an orgasmic experience. I was lonely, and I thought you were never going to come back to me, and none of those are good reasons. I ended up even more frustrated because every time I would get close, well, it was over."

"That douche left you hanging?", Finn said angrily.

"Um. Yeah, I guess you could say that. But the good thing is that I don't ever plan on having that long of an orgasm drought nor any orgasmless sex ever again after you remedy the situation tomorrow, in a soundproofed hotel room."

"Rachel, I so want to give you one now.", Finn whined. "I don't really care who hears you. I'm pretty sure Kurt already has and seemed to be warning my mom as we walked in here. You probably should've just let me believe you were upset about your dads, because now I'm likely to keep trying to touch you all night until you crack."

Rachel giggled at him, knowing that was such a Finn thing to do. But then realized that maybe they should talk more tonight anyway, so they could enjoy the wedding and the festivities afterward.

"I think maybe we should just have some pillow talk tonight. We can finish clearing the air, and then we can enjoy tomorrow a little more."

Finn finally climbed into bed and patted the spot next to him, where Rachel quickly joined him and let his body warm her as she snuggled into his side.

"So, how about you Finn? Have there been any other women to help you with Finn Jr.? We'll get the hard stuff out of the way first."

"Hard stuff. heh." Rachel rolled her eyes at his boyishness, but let him continue, "Well, actually that question is easy to answer. I haven't even kissed anyone other than you since I broke it off with Quinn Junior year. So this time, there are no sex skeletons to speak of. You're irreplaceable."

The tears started rolling down Rachel's face at that point, as she started thinking about how unworthy she was this time. Finn let her go, not because he stopped loving her, but because he loved her too much to not do what he was told was best for her. She felt like kicking herself for not being able to just stay alone and wait for the universe. She was disappointed in herself for letting Brody convince her that she should be with him.

Finn noticed her tears and knew instantly that she was feeling bad that there was a boyfriend-like-person in her life, in his absence, when he had so clearly been waiting for her.

"Rach, I think we're finally even now."

"Even?", Rachel asked through her tears.

"Yeah, we've both slept with someone else when we were 'on a break', and now we both have a point of reference, so we can both honestly say that we prefer each other. I'm not mad at you for your choices, even though I might have asked Santana to get me a Brody voodoo doll to stick needles into and destroy."

"She is going to be so happy - she really doesn't like him. And Finn, he is SO much smaller."

"Santana is a lesbian, and she is not even close to being as beautiful as you. You glow when we're making love."

Rachel giggled again, "Okay, we're even. No more comparing past sexual partner's bodies. Ours were made to fit together."

"Even though we didn't think I would fit at first, before we changed the angle"

Finn hugged her closer, trying to think what else they had to work out., "Oh, I know what I want to do when I grow up now."

"You do?", Rachel said, beaming.

"Yeah, you and Kurt really helped me figure it out."

"We did? How?"

"Remember that conversation we had after you had won your Winter Showcase and I was bummed about New Directions getting disqualified at Sectionals?"

"Yeah. I felt awful for sharing my good news when you were feeling so defeated."

"But you reminded me of the fact that I always wanted to be a leader, and that I shouldn't let them give up on their dreams, and that they needed me to rally. After I got them back together to enjoy the journey, not just the rewards reaped, that really made me think that my dreams are really about guiding others. I love performing, and I love football, but more than that, I loved taking them on that journey, and sharing my passion for music, and helping them to fulfill their dreams. And I think that's why my dream was hard to see. You see, I was already fulfilling my dream when I was planning to come to New York with you and Kurt in a way. I was guiding you both and supporting you on your path to stardom. And I was happy with that, but I didn't know how that could be a career. It was also hard last year because everyone else had these huge defined dreams, and I thought I needed one like that, when really, it was right there all along, I just didn't recognize it."

"Finn, that's so insightful. I am proud to be your-", Rachel paused for a second, thinking if she wanted to really label them right now, before started over with, "I'm proud to be yours."

Finn smiled, "We'll get to the labels, but first, my plan. I have started filling out applications for every school offering a degree in music education in New York City. I will probably start at a community college there to boost my grades and then transfer, but I have a plan, finally. I fell a year behind, but I feel settled and good. I was actually going to wait until I got in somewhere and moved there to try and show you that I was deserving of your love again, but I don't really feel like waiting any more now."

"You don't have to wait. And you have always deserved love. I know that we all pushed you a little hard last year, and that didn't help anything. You needed time and perspective, and while the selfish part of me would have prefered that you gained that perspective living in New York with me all this time, I think that our time apart focused you. You learned to rely on you and discovered the passion and worth that you had all along. I can't wait for you to move to New York. I am going to end things with Brody as soon as I return. I would call him now, but he lives in our loft, and I don't want to take the chance that he takes this badly and trashes the whole place or steals from us or anything when we're not there. So, I'm just going to ignore his calls and only text him if he needs to know I'm still-".

Finn interrupted her with his mouth on hers, softly, yet firmly caressing her lips with his own, sliding his caramel tasting tongue into her mouth, savoring every moment of their connection, until Rachel reluctantly closed her mouth, but gave him one more soft peck. "-alive. Wow, your kisses make me feel alive again." Rachel breathed out as she curled her body around Finn's as his strong arm cradled her and her head tucked under his chin. "Rach, we're gonna be exclusive, right?"

"Yes. I'm forever yours."

"Faithfully", Finn sang, as Rachel giggled a little at their sweet, but corny declaration.

"So when I'm introducing you to people tomorrow, girlfriend? I'd like to be saying fiancee, or better yet, wife, but I'd like to propose again first, and a lot of people might be miffed they missed our wedding if I started introducing you as my wife."

"I'd like that, boyfriend." she replied, smiling, before kissing him again.

"Let's sleep now though, we need our beauty rest for the wedding tomorrow!"

"Goodnight. I love you."

"I love you too. Sweet dreams."

They drifted off in each others arms, finally peaceful, knowing they were each where they belonged.


	4. Marry You

Kurt and Carole woke up around the same time, but Kurt got to Finn's door first. He listened at the door and then crept in quietly to see Finn and Rachel still completely asleep. He nearly shouted when Carole whispered, "True love really is beautiful, isn't it?".

Kurt's heart slowed back down after being startled and merely nodded. They looked serene, Finn laying on his back with one long arm wrapped protectively around Rachel's shoulders, his hand reaching nearly to her waist while her head rested on his bare chest, while his other arm rested over the blanket bump that had to be her top leg curled over his. Both sported relaxed almost-smiles and they were breathing slowly in sync with one another. It was the picture of perfection; even Rachel's long wavy hair was swept back from her face, cascading gently over Finn's arm. Carole whispered again, "They don't have to be up quite yet and they both look like they haven't slept so soundly in years. Just close your door and Finn's. We'll wake them up when Burt leaves for work." At that, they both quietly left the room to start breakfast.

The smell of bacon drifted upstairs and Finn found himself opening his eyes to see the top of Rachel's head, snuggled into his bare chest. He smiled and gently held her a little tighter, which awoke her senses. Before she opened her eyes, she inhaled Finn's scent and purred, "mmmm", realizing how much she missed his unique intoxicating smell, a cinnamon-y orange Earl Grey tea smell mixed with a touch of tangy boy sweat. He kissed the top of her head lightly as she hugged him tighter, hoping that she wouldn't freak out when she realized that she wasn't waking up alone or with Brody. He breathed out his relief when she opened her eyes and sleepily said, "Morning, Finn. I haven't sleep that well since - well, maybe ever."

"Me too. I smell bacon. Should we shower or eat first?"

"Let's eat first, then we can shower and get ready. What time do you have to meet Mr. Schuester?"

"11"

"Great, then we have plenty of time for a leisurely breakfast before we have to get you showered and into your tuxedo.", Rachel answered, peeling herself off of Finn's good smelling, warm body and sitting up.

Finn sat up too, gave her one more hug, kissed the top of her head, and then found his shirt to put on before they went downstairs to greet Carole, Kurt, and Burt, who had surprised Carole with the day off, since it was Valentine's Day.

"Sleep well you two?", Burt asked pointedly.

Finn looked like a deer caught in the headlights, stammering, "Uh-, Err, yeah?", as Rachel blushed deep red knowing that Finn totally gave it away that they had shared a bed.

"Relax Finn, I knew the moment you two stepped foot in the house that she wasn't going to be sleeping in Kurt's room. Hell, I'm surprised there was even a 'diva night' last night at all. I just don't know why everyone thought I'd care. You're both adults, young yes, but you almost got married twice last year, were separated for months, and yet you still managed to be completely in love with each other. I think you've earned some respect for that." Burt said, shrugging his shoulders.

"But anyway, it's Valentine's Day! Carole and Kurt made heart shaped, apparently vegan, pancakes for us all, and there's actually bacon for us meat eaters for a change. Eat up!"

"Hey mom, did you find the vegan sausages I put in the freezer for Rachel?"

"I didn't see them. I'm sorry sweetie" Carole answered.

"It's okay Mom, I'll make them. I think they just go in the microwave".

"Finn, you don't need to do that. I'm fine, really.", Rachel protested.

Finn took her hand and led her to the table., "Just sit down and enjoy the pancakes. I'll be there in a minute, okay?"

"Thank you."

Finn was grateful that his mom didn't find the sausages, because it gave him an excuse to be in the kitchen alone for a minute, so that he could quietly open the door to the garage, where he had hidden the bouquet of calla lilies for his mom and the bouquet of yellow tulips with two red roses in the center that he had bought for Rachel. He brought the bouquets in and heated up the vegan sausages, carrying them in quickly before turning around to head back for the bouquets. Before anyone could ask where he was going, he was back, setting the lilies in front of his mom and the tulips in front of Rachel, and said, "Happy Valentine's Day to the two most amazing women on the planet!"

"I know I did something right when my son brings both me and his girlfriend, who he had just gotten back together with last night, flowers for Valentine's day. Thank you Finny! I love them and I love you."

Rachel was still in a state of shock, and was looking at Finn with tears threatening to tumble out of her brimming eyes, "I love you, Finn. You are remarkably romantic and I couldn't be happier to be with you again, this time forever."

"Well, I promised once that you would always have flowers on Valentine's day. There's also a bouquet that you'll find when you go back to New York. When I was backpacking through Georgia, I remembered that promise and was determined to keep it. So, when I heard that Kurt had moved to NY with you and was able to snag your address from mom, I pre-ordered a bouquet, so I wouldn't forget to do it in time for the service to process the order for Valentine's Day."

"Oh Finn-", she started, but then she stopped herself to let her actions speak for a change, kissing him passionately in front of everyone, not caring that it was quite obvious that her tongue was sensually exploring his mouth and that, as a result of the sudden passion, he had gotten a little excited in his pajama pants.

"RACHEL!", screeched Kurt. "I know that Finn very much deserves this unexpectedly hot kiss for his romantic gestures, but can you please stop kissing him so that his boner isn't so obvious to the rest of us?"

"Shit!" exclaimed a red-faced Finn as an equally red-faced Rachel jumped away from him and they both sat down dutifully.

The rest of breakfast continued uneventfully, until Finn pointed out that they all had a wedding to get ready for. When they got to the top of the stairs, Kurt asked, "So what is the plan for transportation? The parking is at the hotel, there's a shuttle to the ceremony, but you have to leave early and Blaine was going to pick me up. I could ask Blaine to take Rachel too, but I kind of wanted to talk to him before the wedding."

Rachel simply said, "Can I just go early with Finn? I can just hang out or see if Ms. Pillsbury needs any help getting ready."

"How are all three of us going to get wedding ready in only an hour?"

"Well, let's try it. If we need more time, then I'll drive Finn over so he's not late, and I'll just drive back, finish getting ready, and then I'll drive myself over. So we'll have the truck and you can get some alone time with Blaine."

Finn and Rachel walked into his room, and Finn immediately said, "Rachel, I need to shower first so I'm not late, there's no way you'll be ready in time."

"We're going to shower together. You'll finish up before me, but I won't have to wait to get started."

Finn just stared at her starting to take off her tank top as she walked into Finn's bathroom. "Finn, go get me a towel, and then hop in. You've seen me naked before. Come on."

"Oh yeah. Um. Right. Towel." he stuttered out before going back to the hall to grab a towel for her. He came back in practically bouncing around taking off his t-shirt and pajama pants before pulling back the curtain to the sight of Rachel's leg resting up on the empty wash cloth bar as she shaved her leg. She looked up at him.

"Come on, get in. You'll totally fit behind me."

"Yeah, that's what I was afraid of. How is this going to save time again if I can't think straight with you naked and you're practically asking for me to grind your ass to get in there?"

"Get in, and get wet. Grind if you must. I'll be done shaving in a minute and I'll make sure you're clean, calmed down, and out with enough time.", she said, winking at him as she switched legs.

He stepped in, still mesmerized by her perfect naked form, watching the water droplets roll down her back and disappear into the junction of her ass cheeks, mumbling, "mailman, mailman, god I haven't needed that in so long, what is wrong with me?". He managed to resist touching her and shook his head before putting his head in the stream to get his hair wet. He even managed to put some shampoo in his hair before Rachel turned around, and smiled as she remarked, "That's where the cinnamon smell comes from."

"Uh yeah, I guess. Kurt set up some automatic reorder of this stuff. He said it was organic and would make my hair soft" She looked him in the eyes and then said, "Well I like it. Keep washing your hair. I'll find out where the orange bergamot part of your smell comes from eventually.", as she lowered herself to her knees to tentatively lick at his still erect penis. "Keep washing, okay?" Finn looked down and nodded, his eyes wide as she opened her mouth, grabbed the base of him as she closed her mouth around his head, sucking the rest of his length in.

"Oh god." Finn said, shuddering as Rachel moved her mouth along him, never letting the suction release, and occasionally wrapping her tongue around him as she bobbed up and down, faster and faster until she felt him twitch and then she grabbed behind him to shove him all the way to her throat and held him there as he came down her throat.

"Holy Fuck!" Finn exclaimed, breathing heavily as she stood up. He caught his breath and told her, "Rachel, you are amazing. I think we're both going to be late. I have to taste you so bad right now."

"There's no time. I'm gonna wash you off and then you're getting out." she said as she grabbed his body wash. "Ah, that's the bergamot." she said as she lathered up the bath poof that she is certain that Kurt put in Finn's bathroom for him and started washing him off as he continued to stare at her.

"What smells like orange then?"

"My shaving cream"

"But you don't shave your chest."

"Do you want me to?"

"No, but your chest smells like orange and cinnamon and bergamot and Finn, so I was wondering how the orange got there"

"I have no idea. I wasn't fully aware of what I smelled like until now. And I still don't know what bergamot is."

"There, you're clean. Now get out and get dressed, so I can finish."

"But I still need to shave"

"So get out and shave."

"Um, I shave in the shower"

"Oh", said Rachel giggling. "That explains the orange chest Finn! It rinses down your chest as you shave, silly!"

"That makes sense."

They almost maneuvered around each other without incident so that Finn could get to the shower mirror and Rachel could stand in the spray, but at the last second, Rachel slipped and Finn instinctively grabbed to catch her, but accidentally caught her with one arm across her back, and the other arm caught her upper thigh, grazing her clit with his long fingers as she slid past.

"OOOOOOOHHHHH!", Rachel moaned loudly, as Finn realized what had just happened. She composed herself just as Kurt banged on the door and yelled, "I heard that - you two better not be fornicating in the shower if you hope to be ready on time!" Rachel just giggled and said, "more time for that later." and kissed him before reaching for her face wash, getting clean quickly as Finn shaved.

She got out before him and quickly dried her wavy hair, leaving it relatively natural and applied some quick makeup, toning down the eyeliner for a change. All three of them were dressed and left their rooms at the same time, heading downstairs as the doorbell rang. Rachel whispered good luck to Kurt as she gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. He opened the door for Blaine while Carole fawned all over them as though they were going to the prom. Rachel felt a little pang of guilt as Carole snapped pictures for being stubborn about not going to prom with Finn until he left prom to come get her, especially when she experienced how Carole doted on them all dressed up together. She pushed the guilt aside though, thinking that at least she made it there in the end and they had given Carole pictures from the night, even if they were sitting on a t-rex. After a few pictures, they were on their way.

Kurt cautiously climbed into the passenger seat of Blaine's car and looked over at his ex. "You look great Blaine. It's really great to see you. Thanks for coming to get me early. I wanted to talk a little before the ceremony."

"Sure.", Blaine replied, looking a little starry eyed as he took in the sight of Kurt in his car.

"Blaine, you can't look at me like that and drive the car." Kurt said, even though he couldn't help but smile from the ego boost.

"Yeah, right. Well, it's just been so long since I've been able to see you and I've missed looking at you. I've missed everything about you.", Blaine said, before turning the key in the ignition and backing out of the driveway. "What did you want to talk about?"

"Well, I've really missed you too, Blaine, and I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't really attracted to you right now. But I can't get back together with you now.", Kurt said, thinking that it was best to just get right to the point and be as honest as he could.

"Is there someone else?"

"I did meet someone, Adam, who seems interested, and I am interested in getting to know him, but I am still single right now."

"So you're single and attracted to me and we still can't get back together?"

"Blaine, I still LOVE you, but I am also still hurt because you cheated on me when I had only been gone for a few weeks. I'm still in New York and you're still in Lima, and I think that us having a break is a good thing in disguise. You clearly felt hurt by my preoccupation with my new internship, so much so that you sought out comfort elsewhere. I'm not mad about that anymore, but you're still earning my trust again. Also, in a way, you freed me to make sure that you're the one I want over all others, rather than wanting you because you're the only one that likes me. You sort of got to see what else was out there, whereas you have been my only boyfriend. The only person up until now that has ever been interested in me just as I am. When I'm healing from the hurt, I want to explore a little, I want to learn about relationships with others and see if I don't learn some lessons that can maybe apply to us someday. I don't want to be a man whore - that's just not me, but I want to be free for a little bit longer. At least until you move to New York when we can re-evaluate where we both are in relationships. I still have hope in us. I'm just not ready to jump back in again"

"Well I'm disappointed, but what you said makes sense, and I do need to earn your trust again. I'm still sure you're it for me. But if this is what you want, then I guess we will stick to duets and dancing tonight.", Blaine said, looking and feeling devastated, but resigned as he pulled into parking spot at the hotel.

"Blaine, that sounds like a good sound plan, but this is a wedding, emotions are high, we both have hormones, and champagne will be plentiful. I meant what I said, but if something does happen, we're still just friends for now; anything we might do when our judgement is impaired doesn't mean that -"

Blaine didn't wait for him to finish before pulling Kurt closer to him and kissing him, quickly slipping his tongue through Kurt's willingly parted lips. After a few minutes, Blaine broke the kiss, and they both caught their breaths before Blaine said, "backseat?", hopefully.

Kurt nodded, his eyes wide as he got out of the car to slip into the backseat. Blaine followed suit and this time, Kurt pounced on Blaine, kissing him senseless, their tongues fighting for dominance, while running his hands up and down his torso, unbuttoning his shirt as fast as he could. Kurt's heart beat faster in his chest as he felt Blaine's hand grasp both his butt cheeks, pulling him closer and creating a burning heat in his groin as they rubbed together. Kurt's hands felt Blaine's chest and sighed happily into his busy mouth as Blaine started pulling Kurt's neatly tucked shirt out of his pants and ran his hand up Kurt's back, making Kurt shiver a little.

"I want you so bad right now, Blaine."

"Is there time?"

"I can be quick and dirty if you can", Kurt replied as he sat up to reach for Blaine's belt buckle.

He was just about to pull his pants down when a knock at the window startled him and he heard Mercedes muffled voice saying, " Couldn't wait until after the wedding? Come on boys, get put back together - it's time to catch the shuttle. Wow, this car is all steamed up! Damn!"

The boys scrambled to tuck their shirts back in and buckled up their pants before sheepishly trying to smooth down their ruffled hair. Mercedes laughed at them. "Wow, I never thought I would see the day when you both go to a formal event with your hair not perfectly coiffed. I'm still trying to figure out how Kurt got away with having gelled hair through Brittany's crazy hair gel ban at prom."

"Oh no! How bad is it?", Kurt panicked.

"Relax Kurt, you look fantastic. Really, you do. We'll hit the bathroom when we get there and I will show you how perfect you look.", Blaine flirted.

Mercedes just giggled at the two of them and then asked, "Okay, so how DID you get by the no-hair gel ban? And Finn too - he had his ever present fin going on."

"I don't use hair gel, I use organic mousse, which Brit conveniently thought was a product that actually comes from the mammalian moose, so she reasoned that it was allowable because moose were around when the cave men and dinosaurs were.", Kurt said rolling his eyes, then continued, "As for Finn, his hair just does that if he doesn't comb it down when wet. He just shoves his hands through it so it doesn't totally look like bed head. Only a hat or his football helmet make it flat. I suppose a comb might, but I don't think he's ever used a comb!"

"Finn's hair just fins itself? Wow."

"Why didn't we tell her that I use mousse? I looked like a broccoli head", Blaine pouted.

Kurt laughed, "I actually like your curls, maybe not completely untamed a la broccoli, but you don't need to gel them down all the time. And you obviously use gel because your hair always looks wet and you can smell it!"

They arrived at the church, Blaine and Kurt running off to the bathroom for a hair check, while Mercedes warned them that it was sacrilegious to have sex in the church bathroom.

"Because we're gay?", Blaine squawked out.

"No, because it's a church and you're not married. I'd say the same to Finn and Berry if they were headed in there."

"Just checking our hair, Mercedes!" Kurt said as he bust out laughing when Finn's head poked out of the ladies room to see if the coast was clear. "Which is more than I can say for Finn and Rachel."

"Fuck", Finn whispered as he slipped out and Rachel popped out to ask, "what's wrong. Oh no!"

"FINN! You did NOT just swear in the house of God.", Mercedes admonished.

"What? I didn't take his name in vain or anything, did I?", he said sheepishly as Rachel stood next to him biting her bottom lip, trying not to laugh, but also clearly embarrassed that they were caught, even though all they had done was kiss.

"You better not have desecrated anything in there. Rachel, you're Jewish, so I know you have respect for God, if not for Jesus. How could you let this happen?"

"Why would we have pooped in there together?", Finn asked, confused.

"Not defecate, Finn, desecrate, meaning-", he thought for a second, "-well violating anything in there, because the toilets are holy or something.", Kurt explained.

"Oh, wouldn't poop violate the holy toilets?"

"No, Finn, God understands when you have to expel waste product from your body", sighed Kurt, slightly annoyed, muttering, "he doesn't even exist" under his breath.

"Oh, well in any case, we didn't poop and we didn't violate anything. Well Rachel might have violated my mouth with her tongue, but I let her, so that was cool, and not really a violation. I don't think God would mind. We're in love, right? And people kiss at the end of weddings all the time."

"Finn, please stop talking.", Rachel begged. "I think you should probably go back to the altar with Mr. Schue- I mean Will"

"Okay", Finn said, giving her a quick peck on the cheek as he headed back into the chapel.

"Come on diva, you have some explaining to do, but you and the make out twins need to find your seats and I need to make sure the organist has my music in the right key."

"Make out twins?", Rachel asked as she took Kurt's arm to walk in and find a seat.

Kurt sighed but explained, "Mercedes caught us rounding second and almost sliding into third in Blaine's back seat waiting for the shuttle." Kurt caught Rachel's look of concern and added, "Don't worry - we talked."

Rachel smiled at him, and then looked up at the altar as the music started. She couldn't keep her eyes off of Finn. He looked gorgeous in his classic tux. As the bridal march started, everyone stood up to watch Ms. Pillsbury - Emma - walk down the aisle, her hand holding onto her father's arm. For once, she didn't look stressed out, and her eyes weren't as bugged out as usual. Rachel looked from Emma to Will and noticed that they were staring into each other's damp eyes. As she looked at Will, she noticed a look of enthrallment, that was clearly the result of Emma's beauty, ethereal in her lacy white A-line wedding gown. Rachel couldn't help but remember being the recipient of a similar look from Finn, on the day of their almost-wedding, when he caught sight of her in her wedding gown and couldn't speak for several minutes. She looked from the happy couple exchanging vows, to Finn, who was not looking at Will and Emma, but looking right at her, the same look on his face as last year. The emotions were too much, and the tears were forming, but she couldn't stop looking at Finn, the invisible tether between them practically pulling at her heart like a magnet drawing her closer to him. Finn had to stop looking at Rachel for a second to pull Emma's ring out of his pocket, so Will could put it on her finger, and in that split second, Rachel had the words to express what she was feeling, "this should have been us", she whispered so softly that even Kurt next to her could barely hear it, and then the tears started flowing. Luckily, she was a at a wedding, so it was normal for people to cry, but Kurt heard enough of her whisper and knew her well enough to know why she was crying, so he took her hand in his and whispered back, "it will be sometime soon".

Finn saw her crying and it took all his willpower to stay up at the altar trying to look happy for the bride and groom to cover up his being distraught that Rachel was so upset, while Will and Emma finished their exchange of rings and finally were proclaimed as husband and wife.

.Rachel looked up at him and smiled weakly, trying to put him at ease, which made it easier to focus on Will and Emma, who were now heading down the aisle as the guests blew bubbles. Finn knew he had to walk down the aisle with Emma's sister, the maid of honor, but whispered, "can I grab my girl too" as she took his arm. She nodded, so Finn stopped at Rachel's row and tugged on her arm, so she would walk with him, his arm wrapped protectively around her. When they got to the end of the aisle, Finn said, "I know why you're crying. I am SO sorry, Rachel. I promise we will get there. I promise. Hey, stand by me in the receiving line. I don't want to leave your side tonight."

Before Rachel could reply, Will called over to them, "Finn, Rachel, come on over here and get in the receiving line with me! No making out in it though"

Rachel laughed, "I feel like I'm right back in high school. Hey Finn, do you make the members of the glee club stop making out with each other?"

"Nah, I just let them go at it. One of the single ones usually gets annoyed quickly and taunts them til they stop. Besides, the couples this year just aren't as into public affection as we are."

Will just snorted at that. "Yeah, you guys were bad, even when you weren't together. The longing looks could practically get someone pregnant if they were in the crossfire. "

Luckily, guests started to filter into the lobby and give their congratulations, so Finn and Rachel didn't get teased anymore about their PDA. When Finn spotted Kurt, he asked Rachel, "Hey do you want to go with Kurt and Blaine to the cocktail hour? I have to hang out here to finish this receiving line and for wedding party pictures. You can stay, but I think the cocktail hour might be more fun."

"Yeah, I will go with them and catch up. I have a feeling that Mercedes is going to require a more detailed explanation for our getting caught in the bathroom. Remember to smile properly.", Rachel replied, smiling as she walked toward Kurt and gave Will and Emma congratulatory hugs before heading out to the shuttle. The minute they were on the shuttle, Mercedes pounced to sit next to Rachel, bombarding her with, "Spill. I thought you and Finn had broken up officially after he left the army to see you and then freaked out about New York, and then I heard that you weren't even talking to each other after he caught you crying about another guy when you came back for Grease. And now you're fornicating in church bathrooms?"

"Uh. Wow. Okay you know way more than I thought you did. Though it was a lot more complicated and heartbreaking than that. The short version is that we're back together as of yesterday and we were only kissing in the bathroom, nothing else. We do have some modicum of respect for religious belief, even if I am more culturally Jewish than religiously Jewish and Finn once prayed to a grilled cheese sandwich before going back to not being religious."

"But I thought you were living with a boyfriend."

"Kurt, how much do you and Mercedes talk about me?", Rachel asked incredulously.

"I might have complained about Brody to her when he was in his wildly inappropriate, not to mention impractical naked phase. And well, I've been concerned about you, first when you were so upset about the lack of Finn, then when he left again, and up until recently, you've just been on such a weird not-at-all-like-Rachel-Berry path, so I talked to others to get advice about how I could be the best friend for you that I could. Also, your Facebook relationship status is 'Shacked Up'"

"Oh. Yeah, I have to change that when I get back. Also, I'm sorry, that's really sweet. I can't be mad about that. You've really been there for me. I will never forget that. I only wish you could've knocked some sense into me about Brody. He's just in the way now."

"Hold up girl. You're still dating that guy AND back together with Finn? That's just not right", Mercedes exclaimed as Santana's eyes bugged out at what she heard.

"Wait, you're back with Finn? When in the hell did that happen?", Santana sputtered out.

"Yesterday", Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, and Mercedes said in unison.

"Is Mr. Plastic McDonkeyFace moving out right now? Oh this is awesome.", Santana exclaimed, nearly dancing in her seat.

As Santana was squealing in delight, Mercedes mouthed, "Plastic McDonkeyFace", to Kurt, who rolled his eyes and waved her off.

"Not yet. I haven't told him yet. And before anyone else jumps on me for this, Brody and I have an open relationship, so I'm not doing anything wrong with Finn right now, and Finn was okay with me waiting until we return to New York to break off that particular arrangement with Brody and ask him to find a new place to live, as soon as possible. We live in different states right now, so I'm not going to waste this opportunity to enjoy my time with Finn, even though I would have preferred a clean break from the open relationship first."

"I knew that guy was skeevy. An open relationship? Really? Rachel Freaking Berry agreed to such a thing?"

"Yeah Rachel, you know he's probably screwing some other girl right now. He probably has had several on the side the whole time you've been with him.", Mercedes added.

"First we had to convince you not to do a topless scene, and now we're hearing that you were in an open relationship? This isn't you. What happened to you, Rachel?", Quinn asked, after processing this conversation she had just walked into.

"She got put on a train to New York on what should've been her wedding day because Finn thought he wasn't good enough for her, which we found out yesterday was because her dads actually told him as much to convince him to not marry her and send her off to New York alone. Instead of anyone asking Rachel about how she was planning to make her dreams come true, they decided to force her to do it their way, devastating her in the process, leading to some hiding behind new clothes and makeup, which I probably enabled, and trying to find companionship to mask the hopelessness of feeling like she lost the chance of being with the one person she was truly meant to be with, who just happened to be as lost as she was. That's what happened to the old Rachel Berry, in a nut shell. She's making a comeback though.", Kurt defended her, smiling.

"Uh, Thank you for the summary and defense, Kurt. And Mercedes, the thing about an open relationship is that he has no reason not to tell me about any hookups he might have. And the couple of times we did anything, we were always extremely careful. And I was just tested last week, as was he, so we're both clean. Regardless, it's not an issue anymore, because I am 100% with Finn and in my mind, there is no more me and Brody, and as of Monday morning, he will be aware of that as well."

"Well, it's a good thing you didn't break it off over the phone, I don't trust that guy in our apartment with all our stuff as it is. He's up to something bad that you don't know - I mean, he's got a PAGER. Who has a pager if they're not a dealer or a pimp? My mexican psychic third eye twitches around him. Don't need to come home to our place ransacked in his fit of rage over losing his little ingenue.", Santana remarked.

Rachel sighed, wishing that she wasn't in this predicament at all, and that her and Finn could've worked this out earlier, or that he would've been strong enough to go against her dads' wishes. "Can we please drop this and go enjoy this wedding when we get there? I think I'm going to even have some wine."

"That sounds like an excellent plan.", Quinn said, sounding overly perky, "Santana and I got fake ids. We'll make sure you get something.", she said, almost purring.

"Well let's go have some fun", Kurt said, "We're here."


	5. You've Lost That Loving Feeling

Rachel, Kurt, Blaine, Mercedes, Santana, and Quinn headed straight to the bar to start the cocktail hour. Since it was a wedding and they weren't acting like teenagers, they were all able to easily obtain a nice drink for the occasion, and were soon joined by Puck, Tina, Mike, Brittany, and Sam. They passed the hour trading stories about college, performances, and what has been happening at McKinley.

During Tina's description of Finn's dressing up at the "Almighty Treble Clef" (which had Santana and Kurt laughing hysterically and begging for pictures), Rachel felt a pang of sadness when Tina mentioned how they made him a star covered utility belt with dry erase markers, knowing that those stars, while well meaning, were probably painful for Finn, given their breakup. She looked a little wistful, but was determined to not let the past put a damper on a great night with Finn, and then smiled, realizing how nice it was to be surrounded by so many friends again.

It was a good thing that it was almost time for dinner, because most of the girls were feeling their second cocktails, and Quinn and Santana in particular were starting to get rowdy. The wedding party finally rejoined the reception and Rachel was delighted that Finn headed straight over to her after walking the Maid of Honor to her table. "Miss me?", he asked while hugging Rachel.

While Rachel answered with a quiet and sincere, "always", Finn also received a cacophonous symphony of obnoxious, laughing, "no's", punctuated with Santana's "we were able to get hors d'oeuvres without you stealing them all, gigantor" and Puck's, "I'm not lame, dude."

"Well then, maybe I should go crash the bride and groom's table instead of sitting with you guys."

Rachel just pouted at him and he laughed, "On second thought, that would be a HORRIBLE idea."

"Yes, it would be", she replied before rising up on her tiptoes to give him a quick kiss.

"Kurt?", Tina whispered, raising her eyebrow, "Am I really watching Finchel 4.0 or did they just fall back into Lima habits?"

Kurt bent down and whispered in Tina's ear, "4.0? Damn, you're right. It's a bit complicated, as they can't do anything the simple way, but it's a good thing they're back on. We'll fill you all in during their duet, so Rachel doesn't have to relive the bad parts of this whole thing again."

Finn and Rachel continued to be nauseatingly cute during dinner, barely letting go of each other to eat, and surprisingly, even Puck had the good sense not to comment on it. As dinner was ending, the emcee brought everyone's attention to the stage, where the maid of honor was going to give her toast. The maid of honor's toast was fairly standard, as she talked about how her cousin Emma was so happy with Will and how good he was for her. After toasting to the happy couple, Finn was called up as best man.

"I was still a senior in high school when Will, then Mr. Schuester, asked me to be his best man. I really thought he was joking, but of course I said yes, because he's been like a father to me. He was the first man to really inspire me and the first to take on the role of a father figure, since I lost my own father when I was still a baby. I have a wonderful stepfather now. Hi Burt!" Finn waved to him, "But you can never have too many role models in your life. Over the course of this year, we have become more like equals, but I still look up to him every day, because I see how deeply he loves and how he's not afraid to express himself. I have never been great with words, so in lieu of a traditional toast, I asked my girlfriend Rachel, my favorite duet partner, co-captain of the 2012 Nationals Winning New Directions, and recent winner of the New York Academy of Dramatic Arts Winter Showcase, to help me out in performing a musical tribute to Emma and Will. You see, she's the best, and you both deserve the best for your first dance as husband and wife. May you have a lifetime of happiness."

Rachel rose to walk onto the stage, actually blushing a bit at Finn's listing her accolades. They started singing, "Open Arms", lost in each other's eyes the whole time, the audience enraptured by their perfect harmonies and the haunting timbre of their voices combined, conveying every ounce of their love for each other to the entire room. The newlyweds were enraptured in their own bliss, dancing together while Emma teased Will about their first dance, of course, being a Journey song. But the song affected everyone. Tina was sobbing uncontrollably into Mike's arm, and Blaine kept staring longingly at Kurt, who he was also trying to comfort, because he was also tearing up. Mercedes was staring at them with her mouth wide open, while Puck just looked bored. Santana even turned away from the table to brush an errant tear from her eye, as Quinn quietly held her hand, hoping that no one would notice. It was when Santana turned away that she caught sight of a very unwanted visitor in the doorway. She couldn't quite read the expression on Brody's face, but it seemed part realization, part anger, and part utter confusion and surprise.

Luckily Finn and Rachel's eyes hadn't left each other's since they started singing and there was still one verse left, so Santana whispered to Quinn that she'd be back, then grabbed Puck discreetly and headed over to the door to get rid of him, whispering to Puck, "Rachel's soon to be ex. I'll explain later. He's up to something. Get the pager and follow my lead."

"Cool"

They approached Brody, Santana taking him by the arm and leading him back out of sight, and far out of earshot, finally stopping in a deserted hallway.

"Why hello, Brody. Whatcha doing here? I thought you weren't into going to weddings where you didn't know anyone?", Santana greeted him with her perfected false friendly voice.

"I came for Rachel. It's Valentine's Day and I wanted to see her. Who is this guy?"

"Well that sounds really nice, but as I'm sure you just saw, Rachel is not going to be seeing you this evening. And this is Puck. I doubt that the Slutty Barbie Rachel that you helped cultivate talks much about her friends in Lima to you, but if she did, this one would've been Noah to her."

"And only her.", Puck sighed and rolled his eyes, "crazy little Jewish princess diva." He paused for a second and then blurted out, "Hey, are you the guy that walked around the house with his junk hanging out around Hummel?"

Santana interrupted Puck's interrogation at the point with, "Okay look, we're not going to exchange pleasantries any more, because I hear the song and it's ending soon. Puck, you're going to take my friend Brody here to my room and make sure that he doesn't leave or get down here again. I'm going back to the wedding to enjoy my limited times with my friends."

When Brody was looking at Santana incredulously, Puck noticed her slight head jerk that he took as a cue to go for the pager. He took the opportunity to respond, "Alright, come on then", and as he turned around, pretended to take a drunken stumble and bump into him, loosening the clasp on his pager, and snatching it up in the confusion of him apologizing, "Dude, I'm sorry, musta had had one too many."

At that, Santana walked away, saying, "Puck? Give me a hug. I'll find a replacement so you're not stuck babysitting the Donkeyfaced Wedding Crasher all night."

Puck slipped the pager into her bra as he gave her a bear hug while she smirked at him.

Puck looked smug when he turned back to Brody.

Brody went along with Puck, trying to think of how he could get out without seeming like a total asshole to Rachel's friend, but couldn't resist remarking on Puck's smug look with, "Um, you know she's a lesbian, right?"

"Santana? Yeah dude, I know. I already hit that hotness. We were regular bootie calls in high school before she started really dating Brittany instead of just bringing her along."

"I want to see Rachel.", Brody said abruptly, hoping that Puck, being a little intoxicated, might be able to be convinced to let him go.

"Not gonna happen as long as I'm here. Are you blind? She doesn't love you. Let her go."

"She's throwing her life away for a memory. He can't possibly give her what she needs for her career."

"And you can? She needs support. And Finn gives her that, unconditionally, even when they weren't together. All you give her is crap advice about getting naked for the camera. Yeah, I hear about stuff. Not cool dude."

They got to Santana's hotel room and turned on the TV, but Puck found that Brody really rubbed him the wrong way for some reason and wanted to make sure that Brody knew that he was not the right guy for Rachel. Puck couldn't help but to be protective of her. She made his best friend happy and she really was a good friend when she wasn't trying to get a solo.

"Dude, I don't know what the deal is with you and my Jewish Princess, but as much as I might want to applaud you for tapping that, because she was sneaky hot in high school, but now she's damn smokin', you gotta know that her heart will always belong to Finn and Finn alone."

"Finn's not in New York."

"Only reason you got a chance, dude. Lemme tell you from experience how this works. Rachel loves Finn, Finn loves Rachel. But both of them have terminally low self-esteem, even though Finn always thinks he's doing the right thing and Rachel is annoyingly perfect when it comes to her talent and she damn well knows it. So they have this epic love, but they're still young, and relatively stupid. So they make mistakes and hurt each other and break up. But they just aren't themselves when they're not together. They function, because despite popular opinion, they are not co-dependent - they're really not. They get by, but they're dead inside. They try desperately to replace each other, because they're young and stupid and hoping that they can avoid the hurt of hurting each other again, but in reality, nothing compares and each time, they get better at communicating and their love just intensifies. They almost got married last year. The only reason why they didn't is because Finn loved her so much that he couldn't bear to be what he was thinking would hold her back from her Broadway dream. So he set her free and tried to make himself worthy of her. He didn't break up with her though - she only did when she couldn't deal with the confusion of were they or weren't they together. Look, dude, I was a Finn substitute twice. Once before they started dating, and she was pining after him, and once after a really bad fight to get back at him. That one led to them breaking up, and was really stupid, but my point is, my friend, that you are a mere Finn sub. She's an actress, and a damned good one, so you won't ever hear her slip up and call you the wrong name. But you're not what she sees when she's kissing you. You're a stand in for her true love. You're someone to boost her self-esteem, because she needs to feel like people like her."

"Well, we're not exclusive anyway. She can have her fun with that giant country mouse, but then she'll come back and be on my arm in New York."

"Are you fucking blind, dude? She's Rachel Fucking Berry! She doesn't do non-exclusivity. Her heart is too fragile for that. If she even agreed to your open thing, it's because she doesn't care about you."

"And you think I'm going to just move out and give up a hot girl just like that?"

Puck was now getting agitated, because he was getting the picture that Brody was really only into Rachel for the physical aspects of their relationship and their common talents, not for her heart, and that really made this guy a slimeball.

"I don't think you're gonna have a choice"

At that, Puck decided that if any more came out of Brody's mouth that he might just punch the guy for being a douche, so he texted Santana.

"Can I punch him?"

She replied, "not yet. boy is going down. gotta plan, not too much longer".

Santana looked at Quinn before putting Quinn's phone to her ear. "Never thought I'd be dialing a pager"

Brody's sleazy voice came through the phone, clearly indicating that he was selling himself and not drugs like Santana originally believed. "I'm Brody, leave your number and I will call you back to discuss how I can fulfill your needs."

"Huh", said Santana, as she entered in Quinn's number. "Well Quinn, looks like you're going to have your first conversation with a male prostitute recorded. Up for it?"

"Yeah, I guess. You know, I wasn't on board with their engagement at first, but I'm now thinking that Rachel just needs to marry Finn. He's the ONLY decent guy that she has ever been attracted to. Seriously. The girl was played by Jesse St. James, and now a male hooker?"

"Don't forget, she also made out with Puckerman a few times"

Quinn rolled her eyes, "Yes, well you and I can pass no judgement for that, but seriously, Finn is clearly the only one for her. How are we going to do this without creating the world's biggest drama at a wedding? We have to let her know, but if she knows, Finn knows, and then both Brody's life and all furniture within a 5 mile radius are in severe danger."

"First we get the pager back to him. Then we call and record. Then we take Finn and Rachel aside and pray that we don't ruin the wedding of our high school glee coach and guidance counselor."

Santana went up to her hotel room and quickly said hello to Puck, before waltzing into the room, introducing Brody to Mike and Tina, who was charged with the task of returning the pager, "This is Mike and Tina, Brody. They're gonna give Puck a little break since Tina needs a little break to get her head to stop spinning, anyway."

Tina, who was not at all drunk, really, did her best at playing the prototypically slutty girl drunk.

"Oooo, so you're Brody. I can see why Rachel wanted to live with you.", she slurred, walking up to Brody, putting her hand on his bicep. "So strong too. Hey, you wanna make out?" she continued, while running her hands up around his neck and then down his chest. As she made her way around his waist, Mike popped the pager into her hand, as she quickly nudged the clip onto his pocket, while Mike played his part in 'saving drunk Tina from making a mistake', and reminded her, "Tina, this is a bad idea. Remember, Brody is Rachel's boyfriend."

"No fair. Rachel dated the quarterback and male lead of glee club, kissed the reigning badass-"

"That's me", said Puck, chuckling on his way out the door, him and Santana content that the pager was back where it belonged.

"- she dated the rival show choir's lead, kissed Blaine, and now she's got this guy tied down too. No fair."

"I'm not tied down. I'm not her boyfriend. We don't have labels and can see other people if we want."

"Oh. Ooooo. Okay then, now we're talking", Tina slurred some more as she approached Brody, playing into the part to keep him distracted as Mike was recording the whole thing, just in case Santana and Quinn's exposure plan didn't work.

"Tina,", Mike warned, "This also isn't a good idea because you're drunk. And because while we're not dating anymore, I still really don't want to watch you make out with someone else."

"Wait. Blaine? As in Kurt's ex-boyfriend, who I thought was definitely gay?", Brody asked, thinking that if he was stuck in this room, that he might as well hear more about Rachel.

Tina's face turned stone cold for a moment before muttering, "Yep, he's definitely gay. Only Rachel got to make sure of that, thanks to a game of spin the bottle."

At that point, no one had to decide what to do next, because Brody's pager went off and he responded with, "Well, Santana put me in her room, I guess she'll have to deal with paying for the long distance charges, so that I can make this call. Do you two mind waiting outside for a minute so I can have some privacy. Seriously. I'm not going to leave the room - I don't want to piss off Rachel, and I'm pretty sure that going against her friends would probably piss her off, and if not, well, then at least I look like the good guy here."

"Yeah, that's fine, we'll be in the hall."

Brody picked up the phone and dialed the number. He was used to getting clients with cell numbers from all over the country, since New York attracted people from all over, so he didn't even bat an eye when the number had an area code from Connecticut.

Downstairs, Quinn's phone rang, causing Quinn and Santana to run out to answer it, Quinn being careful to hit record before answering it in her sultriest voice, "Hello. This is Lucy" Santana bit her lip to keep from laughing.

"Hi Lucy, So, what can I do for you?"

"Well that depends. I'm new to this. What exactly do you offer?"

"Usually, women like to meet me in a hotel room, I bring flowers and champagne, and we engage in intercourse that is guaranteed enjoyable for you. I provide a condom, which we will use in our activities. Extras include oral, which is a pretty popular addition, and also anal."

Quinn's eyes were as wide as saucers, but she continued, asking innocently, "Um, you performing anal or receiving it?"

Santana nearly lost it when she heard Quinn actually ask that, but somehow managed to keep it together, since their goal wasn't to have fun at Brody's expense, but rather to help their friend learn the truth and be able to cut him out of her life permanently. This was serious, so while Quinn's feigned innocence with her pointed question was hilarious, she was also doing an excellent job of showing just how extreme Brody's job was.

Brody nearly choked at that question, but knowing that he might be getting the pay out of the century with this vixen, he continued cooly, "I had meant performing anal, however for an extra fee, I could be convinced to be penetrated by a toy you provide."

Quinn made a gagging face at that, but pressed on, "Oh, well okay. Is there some special fee that you have for doing, like everything?"

"Ah, so you are referring to the all-nighter, which is a flat, though steep rate for getting me for several hours. This would give you a late dinner out, followed by hotel activities lasting until the following morning, or until you get tired and want me to leave, whichever comes first. This includes any sexual acts you would like. Also, this is the only package where I offer services to an additional party of your choosing, for an extra $1000, $1500 if your desired third person is a male"

"Oh, so I could bring my boyfriend?"

Brody choked, but answered honestly, "If you pay for it, I can do a male-female-male triad in any configuration"

"That sounds ideal. How do we go about booking?"

Brody took out his cell phone and looked at his calendar.

"I have openings for the all-nighter next weekend, Friday or Saturday?"

"Friday sounds great. How much for the all-nighter with my boyfriend and I?"

"$3500, cash only. Westin Times Square, 7:30pm in the lobby. I wear a black suit with a yellow rose on my lapel."

"See you then.", Quinn said and then hung up.

"Holy shit", muttered Santana, "This is even more intense than I thought."

They walked back into the reception, hoping that their newfound knowledge wouldn't completely destroy Rachel.

Kurt and Blaine were singing, Rachel and Finn were dancing, clearly having fun with each other. Santana even admitted to herself that what Finn was doing actually resembled dancing (he really had improved over three years of glee club), and that it was cute that Rachel was dancing silly, just to match him. Her and Santana went over to them to finish dancing to the song, before asking Rachel and Finn out to the hallway.

"What's going on Santana? You've barely been enjoying the wedding. Why are you taking us to the hall?"

"Well, you know how I don't trust your boy in New York?"

Rachel just glared at her, annoyed that she was bringing up Brody when Rachel was clearly enjoying limited time with Finn and told her that she was going to be breaking up with him when they returned.

Santana continued, "Well, I found out why. I wasn't planning on doing any investigating until we got back to New York, and the only reason I'm telling you now is because he showed up here."

Rachel's stomach dropped to her feet and she practically whispered, the panic evident in her voice, "Brody is here? In Lima? Why?"

Finn's mouth was hanging open, clearly in shock as well.

"Santana spotted him in the doorway during your duet. She took Puck with her and he went willingly up to Santana's room, when she informed him that he wouldn't be seeing you tonight", Quinn added.

"Yeah, and he was still wearing that ridiculous pager, so I got Puck to swipe it, so I could call it and find out what he was up to."

Quinn reached in her purse and brought out her phone, saying gently, "Rachel, this is going to be rough, but you need to listen to this. Also, remember that I was acting here. I only did this to get at the truth, no other reason. Well, and because Santana told me to because she was worried Brody might recognize her voice."

Rachel looked at Finn, who put his arm around her in support, before reaching out for the phone. She pressed the play button that Quinn had cued up, and listened until Brody mentioned the oral and anal extras, and stopped it, crying, holding her face in her hands, ashamed, finally choking out, "I am so so very stupid. I don't need to hear more."

Santana knew that Rachel didn't want to know more, and had heard enough to do what she needed to do, but still thought that Rachel deserved to know the full extent of her boy toy's activities, so she urged, "Rachel, I know this is rough, but you deserve to know the full truth. It's not much longer, I promise."

Finn's arms tightened around Rachel, and he said gently, "I'm right here. And I still love you. You had no way of knowing what he was doing."

"Okay", Rachel replied and then hit the play button again, listening, but sobbing from embarrassment the whole time.

By the time the short recording ended, she was more livid than embarrassed. Her face was getting red and she was clenching her fists, but Finn actually spoke first, breaking away and starting down the hall, nearly growling, "I AM GOING TO KILL HIM".

"FIIIIIINNNN!", Rachel called to him, desperate to stop him from his rage filled rampage.

"Not so fast, angry chair kicker.", Santana caught up with him and held him off. "I think your girl might have a few things she wants to say first."

"Get Puck.", Rachel demanded. "Where is he?"

"Rachel?", Finn asked, "Please let me."

"No. Finn, I love you and I love that you want to protect me and that you want to defend my honor. And I love that you are so angry that you would do things that could get you in loads of legal trouble, just for me, but I don't want you to beat him up if you don't have to. I am going to talk to him. I am going to yell at him, a lot. Then I'm going to make sure that he doesn't do anything stupid, but make Puck shadow him until we all get back to New York and kick his ass out of our apartment for good, and change the locks."

"I want to protect you - are you sure you want to do this. What if he gets violent? I don't want you hurt. You're so tiny. I know you're strong like a tiny ninja, but I don't want him to hurt you."

"Finn, you are protecting me. And Puck is coming to protect me and by extension, you, so you can be with me. I'd prefer nobody hurt anybody because violence isn't the answer to any of this, but if he tries to hurt me and Puck needs help, I won't be mad if you do what you need to do. Just please, PLEASE be careful. I don't want you arrested, because then I would get to see you even less."

"Okay, but I'm not leaving your side."

"So, I hear that you're gonna let me beat up the douchebag with the donkey face.", Puck announced as he joined them.

"No", Rachel said, "You are coming up with me and Finn and Santana and it's your job to make sure that Brody doesn't hurt anyone. You're on defense, not offence."

"Hey! You did pay attention when I was talking about football!", Finn cheered, smiling.

Rachel couldn't help but smile at that. "Okay, time to get this over with, so I can do more slow dancing with my very protective boyfriend."

Rachel left the elevator and walked down the hallway, fast and determined, stopping to put her hand out for Santana's key.

She opened the door and barely took a breath before starting, " Hi Mike, Hi Tina. Thank you for babysitting Brody. You can go and enjoy the wedding now. We'll be down soon."

"Thanks Rachel, but I think I might want to watch this if you don't mind. It has epic verbal smackdown written all over it."

Rachel ignored Mike, and spat out, "Did you think I would never find out about your deplorable excuse for a profession? On what planet did you ever think it would be okay with me that you're a dirty man-whore selling your wares all over New York City?"

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't play dumb Brody. I know your dirty little secret. I should've listened to Santana when she first said her Psychic Mexican third eye was twitching. She recorded your conversation with Quinn."

"This just sounds crazy, Rachel. Who the hell is Quinn?"

"You didn't just call her crazy, dude.", Finn interjected with his fists clenching and his jaw set, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet for an excuse to punch him. Rachel just put her hand over his fists and rubbed his thumb with hers before replying, "Oh, that's right, she called herself Lucy. And she's a lot kinkier than I thought she was, going for the overnight special and propositioning you to engage in intercourse with her and her fictitious boyfriend."

"You BITCH!", he screamed, lunging for Santana when Rachel squealed in terror and Santana said, "You best not be going at me. I got razors hidden all up in here.", smoothing down her perfectly shiny black hair.

Luckily, Puck jumped into action anyway, easily shoving Brody back away from Santana.

"So it's true then. You're actually selling sex, really kinky sex, for money.", it was a statement, not a question.

"We weren't exclusive, Rachel."

"That's your excuse? We were supposed to be honest about any outside activities and you LIED about this. Granted, there would've been no us if I would have known. But I don't care, because whatever this was between the two of us, it's over. It was over even before my friends here exposed you. The only difference is that now, I don't want you in my life at all. I will be cooly cordial to you at school, and if I have the distinct misfortune to be cast in any NYADA productions opposite you, I will be professional, but we are NOT friends."

"Rachel, this is just a misunderstanding. Look, I needed the money to pay for school. Not everyone has rich daddies to pay for everything. It doesn't mean anything. You're just confused because you're here in Lima with your giant boob of a high school boyfriend hanging on your every word again. Have your fun with gigantor here and we can work things out again when you come back to New York and have cooled off."

"It doesn't mean anything? Well you know what? I am not confused. I was going to end our relationship when I got back anyway. I'm not in love with you. I never have been. I was lonely and stupid and you were a poor substitute for Finn."

"Told ya, dude.", Puck interjected, earning him a chorus of, "Shut up, Puck" from Quinn, Santana, and Finn.

Rachel continued, "The only thing I feel for you is anger. Mostly anger that you could have given me a whole host of diseases that could ruin my chances to have Finn's children later on or worse, kill me. And I'm angry with myself for ever trusting you. I'm angry that you were in New York and I wasn't strong enough to be alone! And don't you dare call Finn gigantor. He's tall and sexy and a beautiful specimen of man. And while I don't see why they must use always use insults thinly veiled as pet names, only Santana and Puck can get away with doing so."

Santana couldn't help but snicker at that, thinking, 'you tell him, hobbit', but quickly turned it off when she realized that laughing might just make the situation worse.

"I am not wasting any more words on you. When we return to New York, you will move out, under supervision, and you will never speak to me unless it is required in order to be professional. Come on Finn, let's dance some more."

"You really suck, dude. Open relationship or not, doing a bunch of paying women, when you could've been treating Rachel like the perfect woman that she is, that's just really really stupid. Worked out for me though. So thanks for that. You better hope you didn't give her anything bad. Or you will have to deal with me.", Finn threatened as he kicked the desk chair over before leaving with Rachel.

"What is it with you and kicking furniture, dude?", Puck quipped.

"Better than hurting a person, even if he deserves it, and gets the frustration out.", he answered as Rachel melted into his arm and they left.

"Okay now that diva and frankenteen are gone, this is how it's gonna be. Puck, you can return to the party. Be on alert for a rampage, but I don't think that's gonna happen. Brody, my dear roomie, you are going to stay put, by yourself, in this room until the wedding is over and Finchel are tucked away in a room, screwing each others brains out and making a crap ton of noise. Then, you are going home with Puck. IF you cause any trouble at the wedding or go back to New York and ransack our apartment before we return and supervise your departure and then change the locks, I will alert the authorities about your little side job, because I am pretty sure that while being an escort is a legal profession, that extorting thousands of dollars for sexual acts is NOT. Is that clear?"

"Yeah.", Brody said, conceding that he was in no place to be fighting any of this when they had the chance of putting him in jail and ruining his career.

"Oh, and Finn will be coming back to New York to help supervise, so if you start something there, and Rachel happens to be in class, well, lets just say that I won't stop him from taking you down. He's big, he's apparently ripped now, and boy's got some rage that has a nasty habit of coming out when someone hurts Rachel or he's jealous as fuck. He loves her more than anything in this world."

Santana and Puck left the room to enjoy the rest of the wedding. As they walked into the reception again, they saw Kurt and Blaine jumping around Finn and Rachel, who had just explained what went down to them as well as Mike and Tina, who had needed some of the blanks filled in. Finn and Rachel, however, were just standing there, lost in each others eyes, finally succombing to the moment and kissing passionately as Santana and Puck entered into their circle.

Santana rolled her eyes, and said, "And there's the downside to a Finchel reunion. Damn, I'm a gonna needs some earplugs when he moves in."

She didn't have time to complain (though in fun) any more though, because it was time for Emma to toss the bouquet. So she just grabbed Quinn in one hand, and pulled Rachel off of Finn's face with the other, and said, "Come on, let's go catch some flowers!"

Finn whirled around trying to figure out why Rachel was pulled from him and said, "Wait! Santana! The bouquet is only for single girls! Gimme Rachel back!"

"No, Finnocence, the bouquet is for un-married women. So unless ya put a ring on it already, she's fair game."

"Guess I'm going to have to catch the garter if she gets the bouquet then.", Finn muttered to Puck.

"Why? You two already know that you're gonna be the next ones married in this room. Hell, you should've been married first.", Puck quipped back.

"Yeah, I know.", Finn said glumly, but then changed his tune, "But you know what? Our future starts now. And this time we will get it right!"

"Yeah, you will. So, what are we serenading her with if she gets the bouquet and you get the garter?"

"Well, we're serenading her either way, even if it has to wait for this wedding nonsense to be over, but I was thinking 'You've lost that loving feeling'."

"Sweet".

The girls were buzzing in their tight knit pack. Rachel was squashed in the middle, her arms not reaching, but merely cupped in front of her when the bouquet landed neatly in her hands as she looked through the crowd at Finn and smiled, before running to him, giving him a quick peck on the lips, saying, "well, that's gotta mean something!"

"Well let's just make sure I catch the garter and not Puck!", Finn joked as he joined the other guys.

Will took a quick glance at the group of boys vying for a chance to run a hand up Rachel's leg and hoped he would hit his tall target, so as to avoid a fight and broken chairs.

Emma smiled at Rachel and told her, "it looks like you have quite the entourage that wants to put that garter on you."

Rachel smiled and told her, "Way back when, that would've been great for my self esteem, but right now, I just need one of them to want to touch me."

As Will flung the garter up high. Finn watched it, then took a nearly super human leap in the air, coming down with the garter clasped in his hand.

Emma laughed, "Well I think the Almighty Treble Clef might feel the same way".

"OK, the way everyone keeps talking about that, I really need to see him in this costume.", she responded as Emma smiled at her and nodded.

Rachel headed to the chair now set in the middle of the dance floor and was surprised to see that both Finn and Puck were talking to the band and grabbing microphones.

Finn turned his on and addressed the crowd, "So uh, this is pretty cool that I get to put this garter on my girlfriend, while serenading her. Puck's here to help out too. Also, Rachel, I picked out this song for this whole garter thingie a while ago, so the lyrics don't really make sense for us, but just enjoy us singing to you anyway, okay?"

"Okay, Finn.", Rachel said, laughing at his silly disclaimer.

Puck started singing, "You never close your eyes any more when I kiss your lips / And there's no tenderness like before in your fingertips / You're trying hard not to show it baby but baby, baby I know it".

Then Finn joined Puck for the chorus, " You've lost that loving feeling, oh that loving feeling / You've lost that loving feeling, now it's gone, gone, gone."

Finn sang the next verse, moving closer to Rachel, who sat enjoying his voice, "Now there's no tenderness in your eyes when I reach for you / And girl you're starting to criticize little things I do / It makes me just feel like crying baby / 'cause baby Something beautiful's dying. "

Puck joined him again, singing to random girls in the audience, while Finn stayed close to Rachel, " You've lost that loving feeling, oh that loving feeling / Bring back that loving feeling, now it's gone, gone, gone / And I can't go on, no oh oh "

Then Finn got down on his knees in front of Rachel, looking deep into her eyes as he sang the bridge, "Baby, baby, I get down on my knees for you / If you would only love me like you used to do / We had a love, a love, a love you don't find every day / So don't, don't, don't let it slip away", but Puck took over the rest of the song, so that Finn could slide off Rachel's shoe and gently nudge the garter up Rachel's leg, as she giggled the whole time, especially when he only stopped when he nearly reached her hip, his fingers grazing the edge of her lacy thong, "Bring back that loving feeling, oh that loving feeling / Bring back that loving feeling, now it's gone, gone, gone / And I can't go on, no oh oh"

Finn pulled his hands out from under Rachel's dress and pulled her closer to him for a lingering kiss, much to the delight of the crowd.

"Oh they wouldn't be cheering so much if they walked in on that nearly every day, sometimes several times a day, since it was unavoidable at school.", Kurt said sarcastically to Blaine.

However, Blaine just said, "Finchel is back, though. I feel like a hole in the universe has been patched. Their PDA is pretty intense, but I think that's just because they can't help it. Their love is intense. And lets face it, it's pretty fun to tease them about it."

"Oh you just wait until you get to New York and have to hear them go at it every night. It was bad enough when we were in high school and we had walls and doors, and they couldn't go at it constantly because of parents being around, I can't imagine what's going to happen when we share an apartment with no real walls and there's no one to really stop him!"

"We? I thought we weren't getting back together."

"We're not now, but I know you're probably going to get into NYADA, and we are friends, and the Bushwick loft is the place to live if you graduated from McKinley High. I'm hoping I just need time."

"Me too", Blaine replied, a curious look coming onto his face as he saw someone out of place standing by the doorway. "Um, Kurt? Is that Brody over there?"

Kurt whirled around to look and his eyes met Brody's and narrowed, "Yes. I thought Santana had taken care of that. Crap. He doesn't look like he's going to start trouble, though." He scanned the room for Rachel and Finn, satisfied that they were slow dancing and lost in each other completely, "And it looks like neither Rachel nor Finn would notice an apocalypse right now, so that's good. I'm going to go talk to him. Can you find Puck just in case?"

"Sure."

Kurt walked over to Brody, asking him, "So, I thought you were banned from the wedding?"

"I was told to stay in Santana's room, but she only threatened to play tattle tale if I caused trouble at the wedding. I just had to see her."

"How long have you been watching?"

"I saw the whole garter thing. I've never seen her look so beautiful - she was glowing. She looked radiant at the winter showcase, but this was unreal. I've never seen her look like that with me. Look, I'm not going to cause trouble. I'm going to walk away and never look back. She's a great girl, but I didn't love her, at least not like he does. I don't like the guy, but there is no denying that they are truly in love and somehow, he brings out the best in her."

"Fair enough. Well, you might want to go back up to Santana's room. Watching the Finchel show is only going to get more depressing as they start to forget they're in public, which will happen any minute now. AND you don't want to piss off Santana when she's in the same room as her ex-girlfriend, who is now dating a boy, who she briefly dated as well."

"Is there any combination of your glee club that didn't date or hook up?"

"Ha. Well, I have only been with Blaine, though I did have unrequited, and now dead, crushes on two of the straight guys. But yeah, the web of relationships is quite complicated. That one though", he said pointing at Finn and Rachel dancing, "that one kept coming back through every single mess."

"See you around."

"Yeah. And thanks for not making this worse than it had to be."

"It's not like I didn't know her heart was elsewhere.", Brody said as he walked away. Kurt turned around and headed back into the wedding, finding Blaine quickly and asking him to dance.

As Kurt and Blaine danced cheek to cheek, they noticed that all their friends seemed content, which really was a rare event. Of course Finn and Rachel were shuffling around the dance floor, lost in each other's eyes when they weren't just standing there kissing each other softly. Quinn and Santana were slow dancing, but they looked like they were being silly and having fun. Mike and Tina were having a reunion of sorts, kissing and crying between bouts of ballroom dancing. Mercedes was sitting at a table chatting with Puck about what they liked and disliked about Los Angeles while Brittany and Sam quietly danced, trying to stay a respectful distance from Santana. Of the originals, only Artie was off doing his own thing, flirting with a girl who was also in a wheelchair.

Blaine broke Kurt's thoughts by asking, "So, how long do you think it will be before Finn and Rachel have one of these?"

Kurt laughed, but then sighed, "I don't think they will have a wedding like this anymore. As much as Rachel would love the attention that being a bride would afford her, I think that with their history of planned weddings, they're much more likely to just run off to Vegas this time. They might surprise us though. If I have any say in it, they will have a wedding reception, but I really wouldn't be surprised if they eloped, so car accidents and parents can't mess it up, and then had fake ceremony & reception for show. Either way, I give Finn a month to get the ring back on her finger."


	6. To Make You Feel My Love

Rachel was serene, cuddled on Finn's lap, kissing him languidly as they waited for the last song and for Will and Emma to depart on their honeymoon. While Finn had no official duties left as best man, he still needed to wait for the groom to leave before he could take Rachel up to his room for the night. They stopped dancing some time ago, deciding to rest a bit, which of course led to some kissing when they weren't chatting with their friends who came and went from the dance floor.

Their friends were all on the dance floor at this point, when Finn all of a sudden deepened their kiss, replacing Rachel's serenity with something more primal; a deep glowing burn starting in her abdomen as she responded to him, her hand lacing through his hair as she pulled his face even harder into hers.

She caught herself though, and broke away, "Finn, stop."

Finn looked at her, panic evident in his eyes, "Did I do something wrong, oh no, you don't want to do this anymore. I am so stupid. I just got so caught up and you said that you loved me and-"

"Finn", Rachel said gently, "If we were alone, I wouldn't have stopped you. Look around"

"Oh. Yeah, this wedding has to end soon. I think I thought we were upstairs for a minute there."

Rachel smiled at that and whispered, "If we were upstairs, trust me, you would've been stripped down already. I am ready to explode. And you have to stop worrying that I'm going to leave you. We're forever now. Nothing is going to get in our way."

Finn smirked and discreetly ran his hand up her thigh a little, teasing her, "Explode, huh?"

"Oh god. Finn, seriously, stop. Please stop. I don't want to have a screaming orgasm in the middle of a wedding."

"Isn't that a shot?"

"Huh?"

"A screaming orgasm. I think it's a shot or a drink or something."

"Can we go get one instead of me having one in front of everyone?"

"Only if you order it, so I can have the indelible memory of you asking for one"

"You want a memory of me asking another guy for a screaming orgasm?"

"Well I'm gonna pretend you're asking me for one"

"Oh, well I can make that happen too."

"Let's just get these drinks before we both explode"

They walked over to the bar hand in hand, and Finn snickered as Rachel very primly said to the bartender, "I'd like two screaming orgasms, please".

The bartender rolled his eyes, mixed the shots and handed them to Finn and Rachel.

"To us", Finn said, touching his shot glass to Rachel's.

"To a beautiful beginning of a new chapter in the book of us"

"To making your beautiful body enjoy this drink's namesake soon"

"Yes, to screaming orgasms. Now drink it, Finn!"

"Ewww", Santana added, as she sauntered up to the bar for another cocktail. "You both just need to get laid."

"If you can get Will and Emma out of here, I'd be happy to oblige - with Rachel, just to be clear - but I'm the best man. Sorta gotta stick around til the groom leaves. I guess it's improper to get laid before he consummates his marriage or something"

"I don't think it has anything to do with that, Finn.", Quinn mentioned as she joined them on the other side of Santana, clearly a little off balance from her last cocktail.

"Quinn is actually right, sweetie. It's just a courtesy to stay until the bride and groom leave. That's actually true for all wedding guests, but usually the bride and groom leave a little earlier.", Rachel explained.

"Oh, so we could've had a quickie in the bathroom and it would've been okay?", Finn asked, but then blushed when he realized what he had just said out loud.

Santana just laughed at his embarrassment, shaking her head, "Wow, you really are hard up to get some."

Finn continued to blush, but was relieved when he heard the announcement that the Bride and Groom were going to be dancing their last dance before heading off to the wedding suite.

"Rach, will you do me the honor of dancing with me again."

"Absolutely, Finn.", she replied, taking his hand and letting him lead her to the dance floor, listening to Mercedes sing "To Make You Feel My Love", wondering if Mercedes was aware that Bob Dylan was the composer, not Adele.

"You're wondering if she knows that this is a Bob Dylan song, aren't you?", Finn asked quietly as he wrapped his arms around her and started leading her in a circle, trying to remember that just swaying wasn't dancing.

"You know me so well. It's not that I don't like Adele. She does a beautiful version of the song. Covers often have a fresh life of their own, much like our arrangement of "Don't Stop Believing", but sometimes I just wonder if people know the history of the song they are singing. Given Mercedes' voice, it makes sense that she's emulating Adele here, but I wonder what she would've done with it if she had only heard the original."

"She woulda dipped it in chocolate."

"True. And I would've loved to hear her chocolate covered take on the original, rather than hearing her try to sound like Adele. It would have been more personal."

"Good point. I've missed this. You and I talking about music. Talking about anything really. I really like it."

"Me too. But as stimulating as our conversation is, I think the song is ending. We should bid farewell to the bride and groom.", she lowered her voice seductively, "Before we stimulate some other things upstairs."

Finn's eyes widened, he grabbed her hand and rushed over to Will and Emma.

"Congratulations, Will. Have a great night!", Finn said brightly, smiling big, as Rachel hugged Emma, and wished her a wonderful, happy marriage.

"Will do, Finn. Hey are you okay, you look a little jumpy?"

"Oh, he's just exshited - he'sh gonna give Rachel her first orgashm in months.", Kurt slurred.

"KURT!", yelled Finn, Rachel, and Carole, who had walked up just in time to hear that.

Will starred, Emma blushed beet red, and Burt just exclaimed, "Are you DRUNK?!"

"He really liked the champagne. He only had 2 glasses over the course of the night, but apparently that's enough.", Blaine explained. "I'll take care of him. He'll be fine, I promise."

"Yeah I will be.", Kurt said flirtatiously.

"Okay, let's say goodnight to Mr. AND Mrs. Schuester, before you do anything else embarrassing.", Blaine encouraged, leading him to shake hands.

"Thanks for a fun wedding!", Kurt said as they headed out the door, just behind Finn and Rachel, who was padding down the hall barefoot, with one arm around Finn while her sky high heels dangled from the other.

"He's so much taller than her. How on earth do they get their parts to line up?", Kurt asked Blaine, seeming genuinely curious, albeit only asking thanks to his state of intoxication.

Finn turned around, eager to point out that their height difference was actually an advantage, "I like that Rachel's little. It's easy to just pick her up.". He stopped then and surprised her by just scooping her up, bridal style.

"Finn!", Rachel giggled before turning to Kurt and saying, "Yeah, I like Finn being tall and strong. A girl could get used to this."

"See, Kurt, no worries about the tall and the small.", Blaine tried to assuage Kurt.

"Yeah, Kurt, normally you complain about how much noise we make, so it's not like you don't know that we errr- line up as you put it. We're like two puzzle pieces, perfectly matched for one another. It's like our bodies were made for each other. Plus, Rachel being so little is actually helpful because I only need one arm to hold her up so my other one-"

Rachel cut him off, begging him to stop talking at the same time that Kurt put his fingers in his ears and started singing, "lalalalalalala".

Blaine removed Kurt's fingers from his ears, and reminded Kurt, "Um Kurt? You're the one that asked about them lining up - so I don't think you can pull this embarrassed routine right now."

Rachel and Finn had reached the elevator and quickly rushed in, purposely not waiting for Kurt and Blaine. They heard Kurt exclaim, "Hey!", just before the door finished closing.

Blaine assured Kurt that he should just let them start their night alone, and within seconds a second elevator opened for them.

The minute Finn and Rachel's elevator door closed, Finn, who was still holding Rachel, leaned down and kissed her hard. She responded instantly, wrapping her arms around his neck, and letting his insistent tongue explore her waiting mouth. The door opened, and without missing a beat in their kissing, Finn marched out, still carrying Rachel. He wasn't looking where he was going and managed to walk right into the wall, somehow getting turned sideways in the hallway. Blaine and Kurt left their elevator just as the crash occurred, snickering as Finn just held Rachel against the wall and continued to kiss her.

"I don't think she even noticed that he smashed her against the wall.", Blaine commented as Kurt pointed out, "Well I'd be willing to bet that she thinks they're already in their room based on how she's trying to get Finn's shirt unbuttoned."

"Wanna take bets on how long it will take them to realize that they're doing it in the hallway?"

"5 minutes"

"2 minutes"

"Winner gets laid?"

"I think everyone is getting laid in this scenario."

As they were watching to see who won their bet, Finn shifted his leg up to support Rachel instead of his right arm, shifting his left arm, which was supporting her back, so that he also reached her left leg. Between the wall, his one arm and his raised leg, Rachel barely moved an inch and Finn had a free hand to reach his back pocket for his room key, which he managed to grasp without stopping their kiss.

"He can manage balance and dexterity to keep from dropping his girlfriend, and keep kissing her, while fishing for a room key in his pocket, but he needed intensive booty camp to manage simple dance steps in Glee club. I don't get it."

Finn continued kissing Rachel, but had finally noticed their commentary, and raised his middle finger at Kurt, which nearly made him drop the key, but gave them the cue to stop watching.

"Have fun guys!", giggled Blaine.

Rachel finally noticed their audience and pleasantly responded, "You too! Goodnight!"

Finn took the break from kissing to move Rachel from the wall and pop the key card into the slot, flicking the door handle enough, even with his hand back under Rachel's legs, to open the door, kicking it to make it swing open enough for them to pass through.

"Finally alone", Rachel sighed, smiling widely at Finn.

"Last chance to turn back", Finn said solemnly.

"Turn back? Are you insane? Finn, I am 100% yours. Forever."

"And I'm Forever yours."

Finn gently put Rachel down, so she could stand, facing him. The minute she was down, she was on her tiptoes, kissing his lips, hers surrounding his before settling her top lip between his, lightly sucking on his bottom lip just before his tongue slid through, massaging hers, then frantically chasing it around their mouths. Kissing was always powerful between the two of them. Since their first kiss, they both felt a low hum of energy flow between them whenever they touched. Rachel had never told Finn, but she was convinced that the hum was their tether connecting, each time stronger than the last. It was also one of the reasons why they couldn't help but make it back to each other. They simply didn't feel that with anyone else. It was also the reason why Rachel knew, even as she said it the first time, that she would be unable to wait until she was twenty-five to sleep with him. And it was why she couldn't orgasm with Brody. She needed that tether to get her there. It was that electric tether that made her one of very few women who actually had an orgasm during her first time. It didn't hurt that Finn was determined to make sure she did, but that feeling of connectedness and that energy flowing between them was a requisite part of her being able to let go. Rachel felt that familiar hum spread and finally moved her mouth down to his pulse point, moaning softly into his ear, "unzip me, Finn", and then nibbling on his ear as he gently ran his large hands up her back, finding the zipper and slowly pulling it down, then snaking his arms back up to ease the dress off her arms, letting it pool at her wait for a second before pulling it down her hips.

Finn's eyes had been closed as he took off her dress, in an effort to stay cooled off so he could make the night epic for Rachel, but as he stood up and stepped back so she could step out of her fallen dress, he opened his eyes and nearly fell over. "Wow. Just wow.", Finn said, those being the only words he could manage as her exquisite beauty overtook his senses.

Rachel blushed, still not entirely used to feeling sexy. She quickly regained her confidence that Finn had instilled in her by making sure she knew that he found her absolutely gorgeous and irresistible whenever he could. The look of awe in his eyes was intense, to the point where she thought he was nearing catatonic territory.

"You okay, Finn?", Rachel asked him gently, trying to break the spell she had inadvertently cast over him.

He nodded slowly, but still wasn't able to move. Rachel took a small step toward him and purred seductively, "You know you can touch me if you want to."

Finn smiled at her reference to their first kiss and replied, "I want to", as he closed the gap between them and took her into his arms, kissing her softly and slowly, teasing her, but wanting to savor every second and every sensation.

After enjoying each others bodies for the first time in months, they laid in each other's arms.

"So, current score is 2 to 1, Mr. Hudson", Rachel said dreamily, still trying to catch her breath.

Finn smiled, took a breath, and replied huskily, "I love when you talk sports Mrs. Hudson"

"What did you say?"

"Uh...", Finn blushed furiously, knowing that his subconscious fantasy of her being his wife just bubbled to the surface.

"You realize that we attended Will and Emma's wedding, not ours, right?"

Finn looked sheepish, and still blushing, decided to come clean, "I know you'll always be Rachel Berry and I love your name so much. It suits you and I love that you taste and smell like berries too. I love everything about you. But in my head, you've been my wife all along and it's sort of a fantasy of mine to be able to call you Mrs. Hudson."

Rachel smiled at him, "That is adorable, Finn. I was thinking I would hyphenate."

"You're not mad?", Finn asked, both surprised and amazed that his little verbal mishap didn't make a mess of their rebooted relationship. He continued as she shook her head slowly, "It's a little misogynocologist of me to expect you to change your name, and I would never ask you to do it, but it does turn me on to think about us having the same last name. I like the hyphen thing though. Berry-Hudson, huh? Are we really talking about this?"

"Hudson-Berry, and I think you meant misogynist. You're not a doctor for lady parts.", Rachel corrected, "Typically women who hyphenate add their husband's name at the end, but I like the way that Hudson-Berry sounds. It's like I'm a new variety of berry. Like a strawberry or blueberry, but better because I'm a you berry. Like you changed me into the Berry I am today."

Finn smiled widely, his dimples like craters in his cheeks, as he hugged her, and then asked, "Can I be a Hudson-Berry too?"

Rachel drew back from his bear hug to look at his face better and said with a wavering voice, "You would want to change your name too?"

"Well, yeah. Not only does it sound cool, but I like that it's a little bit of you and a little bit of me. You changed me for the better too, and I want my name to reflect that I'm yours too."

Rachel's tears started falling down her face, as she managed to sputter out, "That's decidedly not misogynistic, Finn. We are saddling our kids with a hyphenated name by doing that, but I like the idea of little Hudson-Berrys running around with both of our names."

"We get to have kids?!", Finn asked excitedly.

"After the Tony, Finn"

"Of course. I'm just glad I don't have to wait for the Tony to practice making them.", Finn said, quickly adding, "Not that it will take you long to get a Tony, but well, I really really like making love to you. I've really missed it."

Before Finn knew what was happening, Rachel was on top of him, kissing him like his mouth was an oasis and she had been parched in the desert for days. She took a quick break to say, "well you should get on that then.", before resuming her kissing.

"I love you, Rachel."

"I love you too Finn. I missed this."

The whole time they made love, Finn kept kissing her neck, or her lips, whatever he could sloppily reach to let her know that he loved her. When they had finished, Rachel snuggled her head into his shoulder and sighed contentedly as he held her tighter, never wanting to let go.

He felt Rachel shiver a little, even within his arms, so he slid out of her to sit up and bring the blanket over them both, when he realized that they were a bit sticky and panicked.

"Oh no. SHIT"

"What's wrong?"

"Um...I'm SO SORRY. What are we going to do?!"

"Do? About what? Finn, you're starting to scare me."

"I'm sticky Rachel. We didn't use protection. I fucked everything up. How could I be so stupid?"

"Finn, calm down. You didn't mess anything up."

"How can you say that? Did you want a little Hudson-Berry NOW? You just said-"

"I'm on the pill; we're okay. Yeah, we should probably have been more careful, just in case, but we should be okay this time. I started on the pill a month before graduation. I was planning on telling you on our wedding night that we didn't have to use a condom that night. Then well, I just kept taking them because I liked that I could skip a period with them if I had a big audition or vacation or something."

Finn's face was a combination of emotions. At first he was relieved, then he smiled when she told him about what was going to be his surprise, but then he looked almost sick, because he simultaneously felt bad again for breaking their engagement and was thinking that she might have forgone protection with Brody. Rachel read the last expression correctly though, and after a brief pause reassured him, "Finn, you're the only one I've ever had unprotected sex with. This was my first time without a condom. Also, both Brody and I were just tested last week, so his disgusting job didn't leave me with any nasty surprises. I can't tell you how grateful I am that I never told him I was on the pill, so on the couple of times we went that far, we always covered up."

Finn responded by hugging her tight and whispering, "Oh thank god", into her neck.

"I am so sorry that I didn't tell you about the pill before we started. You wouldn't have needed to freak out. And even if I wouldn't have been protected, I still wouldn't be mad at you. We got caught up in the moment's intensity and it would've been an oversight by me as well. And we would've headed straight to Planned Parenthood in the morning for the morning after pill. And if the worst would've happened, it would have been okay too. We would make it work. I love you. And while I don't want kids now, I do want them eventually, so it wouldn't have been horrible. Just out of order!"

"I love you, I love you, I love you", Finn told her, squeezing tight. "I just want to hold you all night long."

"Can we take a little rinse off in the shower first? We ARE a little sticky."

****They showered off together, quickly. Rachel stole Finn's t-shirt as her only garment and he threw on a pair of boxers before getting under the covers and snuggling in each others arms, peacefully falling asleep.


	7. Just Can't Get Enough

"...Goodnight!", Rachel's voice sang out before Finn carried her into their room, the door swinging shut.

"Come on Kurt, let's get you some advil and water."

"I don't think two glasshes of champagne requiresh such measures", Kurt said, linking arms with Blaine to walk further down the hall to the room he had reserved.

"Okay, but don't blame me in the morning if you're hurting"

"Who else could I blame. I think I want to be a little sore."

Blaine quickened his pace, almost surprised by what he was hearing. On one hand, he really wanted to make love to Kurt again, but on the other, Kurt was intoxicated. His thoughts battled in his head. He knew that Kurt still loved him and was still attracted to him, even sober. However, he didn't know how Kurt would feel about having sex with him if he was still trying to get over both the breakup and his infidelity. He didn't think that two glasses of champagne, even for a drinking neophyte, would be enough to keep Kurt from genuinely consenting though. So, he finally decided that he would try to sober him up a little bit more first, but then just let Kurt lead the nights activities. He finally responded to Kurt's innuendo filled line, "Well I could take the blame for that if you want to, but I'd feel better if you'd drink some water first"

"Okay, I'll drink some water first. But then I want my body ravished."

"Ravished?!", Blaine asked as he held his hand out for the key. "Kurt, how drunk are you? You never say stuff like this."

"I still feel mostly normal. Just a little slow, which is probably why some of my wordsh come out slurred."

"You're not sounding as bad as you were a couple of minutes ago."

"Well it's funny. When I'm saying something without a filter, like in the hall with Finn and Rachel, it's harder to say, which is why I think it comes out slurry. But with you, it'sh just honesty."

"That seems like really specific drunken slurring. And you're surprisingly introspective about your drunken slurring."

"Is that not normal? I've never done this before."

"It doesn't matter if it's how you respond."

"So, getting back on point here. You want to be ravished? By me? And sore tomorrow?"

"It's been a while, Blaine. I am not ready to get back together, but I am honestly really horny, and I trust you. I'm just not the kind of person who can have a one night stand. And I might also be more like Rachel than I'd like to believe."

"More like Rachel?"

"Yeah, she couldn't get herself off because the only thoughts that would work to get her going, would also make her sad, which in turn made her not so horny."

"Oh."

"So, this is progress? Because being with me wouldn't make you sad?"

"Progress. Yes. Not there yet, but I think this will help."

"Okay. I trust that you're not too drunk to give me consent"

"Yeah, it's kinda wearing off already."

"Good, because I want to ravish you", Blaine said seductively before pushing Kurt down from his seated position on the bed, straddling him and then kissing him passionately.

Kurt got up abruptly and just said, "Pants off"

"Yes, sir!", Blaine replied, wondering how much of Kurt's new forcefulness was alcohol induced, or if this was a result of anger over his cheating, or if it was just a new part of Kurt that resulted from New York giving him more confidence and requiring his assertiveness.

Kurt disrobed himself as well, trying his best to mask how hot Blaine was making him feel, but finally succumbing to his desires by walking over to Blaine and kissing him passionately again as they fell to the bed together, naked, a small bottle of lube falling loose from Kurt's palm as he began to caress all the skin he could reach.

Blaine's body was enjoying every touch, but then he remembered that it was his job to ravish Kurt, so he started to flip them over, when Kurt stopped him, sitting up to keep him pinned down.

"Not yet. I'm going to fuck your brains out first. Then you will pleasure my body until I pass out." He then whispered low, "Are you ready? Because this is going to be hard and rough. You okay with that, Blaine? Can you handle it?"

"Please. Please fuck me hard.", Blaine said breathily, hardly believing what was happening and surprised that he was so turned on by Kurt's assertive behavior.

When Kurt and Blaine were fully satiated, Kurt rolled off and snuggled into Blaine's side, still breathing heavily.

"Just give me a few minutes to recover and we'll make sure you get the same treatment.", Blaine murmured to Kurt.

"No"

"What?", Blaine asked, a look of confusion etched on his face.

"I don't want the same treatment. I want you ravish me, but I don't want it quick and dirty like that."

"Oh. That I can do."

"Good", Kurt said, a little more sharp than he would've expected out of himself post-coitus. The truth was that he was hoping that being rough with Blaine, making him sure to be sore, and having the shortest lay possible would be a punishment for Blaine. Instead, Blaine seemed to really like that rougher experience. It was something that he would have to talk to him about at some point, but for tonight he was going to focus his attention on making Blaine pleasure him until he passed out, agonizingly slow for Blaine.

Blaine was concerned by Kurt's tone, but he missed being with him so much that he was determined to do as much as they could together before Kurt returned to New York, without him again, so he ignored it and drew Kurt closer to him. He knew that Kurt said that whatever they did was not an indicator that they were dating again. That hurt him, but he knew that he had made an unforgivable mistake, and the fact that Kurt was at least talking to him regularly again was a miracle. He deserved whatever tone was coming his way. This night was even more unexpected. He didn't want it to ever end, even if it meant being very sore. It was becoming apparent that Kurt was trying to be rough as a means of physical punishment masked as something arousing. Blaine was surprised to find that not only did he grin and bear it because he knew he deserved it, but that he genuinely enjoyed the experience and felt ridiculously turned on by the whole thing. He wanted Kurt to do that again and again and again.

"Are you ready? I can start slow and just appreciate every inch of your body."

Kurt breathed out, "That sounds wonderful".

Blaine started by hugging Kurt from behind, even tighter than before, and running his finger along the edges of Kurt's hard pectoral muscles, then pressing his whole palm into the pec as he left lots of tiny kisses along Kurt's shoulder. As he got to the crook of Kurt's neck, he started sucking lightly on his skin, but was cut off abruptly by Kurt screeching, "nooooo. you can't leave a mark, Blaine. I have dance classes next week and I don't want you branding me."

Blaine looked dejected, but Kurt didn't see his face behind him, he just answered, "Sorry. I'm so sorry. Old habits. I'm used to you being the scarf king."

Kurt softened, thinking that he might have overreacted a bit, but really didn't want to mess up his chances with Adam in a more adult relationship in New York, just because he wanted to reconnect a little with his ex, who was still probably his soul mate. "It's okay, just please continue the rest without marking me up."

Blaine replied by continuing to kiss him, not sucking, and caressing his chest. His mouth started moving over to Kurt's chest, so he gently rolled Kurt onto his back for better access. He kissed him across the top of his chest, moving down to a nipple, which he bit gently while pinching the other one. Kurt sighed, clearly enjoying the stimulation, but hoping that it would progress soon, since he was starting to feel the sweet ache of arousal again. Then it all stopped, and Blaine got off the bed, headed to the bathroom.

"Where are you going?"

"To get some stuff to give you a sponge bath"

"Um. okay." Kurt said, skeptically, wondering what he did to deserve such treatment. He figured they'd just shower after they were done, but was curious enough to let Blaine do his thing. Blaine came back with a soapy washcloth that smelled like tea tree oil and a plain wet washcloth. He took his time putting soap on all the available skin, then wiping it off with the plain washcloth, massaging as he did.

Pleased that Kurt was visibly turned on by the little bath, and content that all of Kurt's private parts were clean (Blaine knew he had a little phobia about giving blowjobs when he knew where that particular piece of anatomy was only moments before, he had just never run into that scenario before with Kurt), Blaine surprised Kurt by flipping him back over and making sweet love to him.

When they were finished, neither spoke for a full minute as they recovered.

"Wanna shower and go to sleep?", Kurt asked.

"I thought this had to continue until you passed out.", Blaine deadpanned.

"I'm thoroughly satiated"

"You sound like Rachel. She's rubbing off on you.", Blaine couldn't help giggling.

"You really never want to get laid again? But in all honestly, living with Rachel has been great. For all her diva tendencies, she actually is a great roommate. She's a total mother hen, can cook and bake, and even if it's all vegan, it's actually good and I know it's healthy, plus she's neat and organized. And yeah, her vocabulary rubs off on you, but that's a good thing!"

"I'm glad you're happy in New York, Kurt. I really can't wait until I'm there too."

"Me either. Don't give up hope on us, okay? I know I'm adamant about us not being officially together right now, but I am confident that we'll get back there someday. And hopefully it won't take as many restarts as Finn and Rachel."

"Oh god, I hope not. We have thankfully had fewer complications and fewer people breathing down our necks about our relationship. Do you think they'll make it this time?"

"I have no doubt. I've been there from the start, you know? Each time they got together before, it was one of them chasing the other and while they were happy, it was almost like they were waiting to be on the same page again. This time, there was no real chasing. I mean Finn certainly wanted Rachel back, but he wasn't actively chasing her, and Rachel was just trying to get through the weekend without breaking down about not being with him. They just found each other again. It feels different this time."

"Good. I really want them to be happy - people deserve to be with their soul mates."

They took a shower together, with another round of blowjobs, and then stumbled back to the bed to curl up in each other's arms.

The elevator doors opened just as another set closed. Santana and Quinn stumbled out together, arm's locked together as they walked down the hall, watching Kurt and Blaine heckle Finn and Rachel, who were inexplicably making out just outside the door to their room.

"You get some, Berry.", Santana muttered under her breath.

Quinn giggled, kissed Santana on the cheek and asked, "You think they saw us?", as Finn and Rachel entered their room and Kurt and Blaine continued down the hall.

"Are you on crack, Q? I don't think Rachel even knew she was in the hallway, and Finn only has his mind on one thing right now. Uh...Sorry."

"Why are you sorry?"

"Well, that used to be your dream, right?"

"Are you being nice? Who are you and what did you do with Santana?"

"Fucking Hummelberry twins are rubbing off on me."

"Well I like it.", Quinn said, with a low, seductive voice. "And to answer, that was my dream two years ago, but that seems so long ago, and I honestly believe that they're meant for each other. I should've let him go the moment I saw him look at her. But I was a bitch and too concerned with my popularity. I never loved him. And we're so different that while I'll always call him a friend, we really will never be close. I'll always care about him and Rachel being happy though. It's weird. I fought it for so long, but now I'm actually invested in seeing them married. Is that weird?"

"I live with the girl we frequently called man hands and Ru Paul and the boy who wore weird asymmetrical sweaters in high school. And I kinda LIKE it. Is that weird?"

"I guess we're growing up."

"Yeah, funny how that happens. I think being in New York has actually made me nicer. I'm still fabulously acerbic and I's gots more street smarts than the Broadway twinsies put together, and will still go all Lima Heights if someone messes with my people, but I'm not so angry anymore. I can be me and that feels good."

"Being on your own changes you. I'm much more adventurous now.", Quinn lowered her voice again.

"Oh?", Santana tentatively asked, getting a sense of where Quinn might be heading.

"Yeah. Like right now. I'm feeling like I want to try something crazy."

Santana opened the door to her room, "crazy, like?".

Quinn didn't wait for the door to shut before looking Santana right in the eye, and tentatively kissing her on the lips.

"Oh.", Santana responded, a bit surprised even though she was getting the hint that Quinn wanted to try something with her.

"Is this okay?" Quinn asked, a little worried that she might get rejected, but still wanting to try being with a girl, especially one as hot as Santana.

"I feel like I should be asking you that question. I'm good. Are you sober?"

"Sober enough. Not regretting the kiss, won't regret doing more."

Santana was surprised that she was turned on, since she had never had feelings for Quinn before, even if she always did admire her beauty and her body. She decided that talking was no longer something she wanted to be doing and gently pushed Quinn over to the wall, pressing her body up against hers, and kissing her firmly, holding onto her hips. Quinn snaked her arms around Santana, holding her close as she opened her mouth to let Santana's tongue roam in there. She stroked up and down Santana's back and felt the urge to touch more. She reached for the zipper and started to slowly unzip the dress, keeping her mouth fully attached to Santana's while Santana pushed her jacket off her shoulders. Santana broke the kiss to gasp out, "Quinn, you should've taken that off at the wedding. Damn that dress is hot under that ridiculous jacket."

Quinn responded by pulling the dress off of Santana's shoulders, kissing her neck and shoulders until the dress had landed on the floor, revealing her tiny black g-string and sheer lacy bra. She looked up for a moment and her jaw dropped.

"Like what you see, chastity princess?"

"I'm definitely not 100% straight."

"We'll figure out your orientation later, sweetie". Santana said. Quinn got braver and reached for Santana's breasts.

"They're real?", Quinn asked, the realization hitting her.

"Uh, yeah. I was a late bloomer, but I thought telling everyone they were enhanced was easier than explaining that. Keep playing. That's why they're so responsive." Quinn reached for them again and gently kneaded them as she walked Santana backwards into the bed. Santana took the hint and laid on the bed, splayed out for Quinn. As she went to climb on next to her Santana said, "you need your dress off to get on my bed."

Quinn unzipped herself and took the dress off, revealing a pale pink slip covering her.

"Hot, Q. Now lose the slip"

She pulled the slip off, revealing her hot pink lace bra and matching tanga panties.

"Nice. Now get over here.", Santana said while making a mental note to ask Quinn where she got her underwear because she thought that Rachel might like to surprise Finn with something similar.

Quinn crawled onto the bed next to Santana, continuing to fondle her.

Santana laid on top of Quinn and kissed her passionately, moving quickly from her mouth to her neck, and then kissing her way down her flat stomach to the top of her pubic bone.

"You" kiss.

"Don't" kiss.

"Have" kiss.

"A" kiss.

"Single" kiss.

"Stretch" kiss.

"Mark" kiss.

"Um. That's just to make Puck feel bad. I'm lucky though".

Santana decided that she needed to give Quinn the Santana special (three in a row) as her introduction to lady loving, and got to it.

When Quinn could finally catch her breath, she breathed out, "Holy fuck."

"Oh, that fuck was not holy, queen of the chastity ball"

"heh. yeah, I guess not."

"That was incredible. Wow Santana. Thank you."

Santana laughed, "It was my pleasure."

"About that.."

"I can walk you through it"

Quinn was just about to roll Santana over when they heard a knock on the door.

"Urgh, if Finn screwed up already and that's Berry..." Santana grumbled as she scrambled for a robe, and tossed another to Quinn.

She looked back to see if Quinn was clothed and then opened the door.

"Brittany? Sam? Uh. What can I do for you?"

"We have a proposition for you", Sam said as Brittany exclaimed, "QUINN! I didn't know you and Santana were sharing a room! How cool!"

"Um, hi Brittany.", Quinn said, partially in disbelief, partially nervous.

Sam raised an eyebrow at Santana when he noticed their sex hair and robes.

Santana shot him a death glare and he raised his hands in surrender.

"Well why don't you both come in?", Santana said sarcastically, letting the door close again.

She sat down on the bed next to Quinn and looked at Sam and Brittany down at the foot of the bed.

"So, you have a proposition?"

"We wanted to see if you wanted a threesome!", Brittany exclaimed excitedly.

"Brit, Quinn's here, so I think that sort of nixed our thoughts. It looks like Santana is busy now, we probably shouldn't be interrupting.", Sam said.

"Ooo. We could make it an unholy trinity threesome with you Sam."

Santana's mouth was still hanging open and her face was contorting into an expression of confusion, finally finding some words exclaiming, "What the fuck, Brit? You seriously think that I want to have a threesome with your boyfriend?"

"Well, I thought you still loved me. I still love you, but I also love Sam, and you dated Sam before, so I thought you would be okay with him joining in. I love you too Quinn. In fact, I think I'm even more excited now that you're here. I always thought the unholy trinity should have sex."

"Okay", Quinn said.

"Okay?!", Santana bellowed. "I just took your lesbian virginity threefold and you are already looking for more?"

"Well, I didn't get to return the favor.", Quinn purred. "And since I've never performed oral, I thought maybe Brit could show me the ropes."

"And then maybe I'll show Sam how to make Brittany go ballistic while you bone him."

Up until that point, Sam was being very quiet, thinking that as much as he loved Brittany and was really only going along with this because he loved her and wanted her to be happy, that watching three of his former girlfriends go at it was probably the best thing ever, even if they didn't let him join in. However, Santana was just suggesting that he should have sex with Quinn. And that was a whole can of worms that he wasn't sure should be opened. But before he could open his mouth to protest, Brittany said, "Okay. This doesn't happen all the time, so even though I'm dating Sam, you can both do whatever you'd like with him."

"Oh, really?", Santana responded.

"Santana, I think Sam has to agree to it as well, so torturing him is probably not an option.", Quinn was quick to point out.

"Damn. Okay, so Sam, you still in?"

"Uh...", he took a deep breath, let it out, and said, "yeah, okay, you girls just lead the way"

Santana was about to drop her robe when there was another knock at the door.

"Fucking Berry", Santana muttered, "I knew Finn would fuck it up"

But as she opened the door she smiled. "Come on in Puck. Prepare to have your mind blown."

Puck stepped in, saw Quinn in a robe on the bed and starting looking back and forth between Santana and Quinn like they were the paddles in a ping pong game.

Santana just laughed and said, "You know Puck, you might have taken her virginity, but did you make her come three times in a row like I did?"

Puck gawked at her and then looked at Quinn, who was smiling shyly at him before commenting, "No one is getting any sleep tonight. Who brought condoms?"

Puck silently opened his wallet and let a ream of them fall out.

"Yeah, we're good.", Santana said before picking up the condoms and tossing them to Quinn for later. "Now, everyone who is not already naked, get naked", she said as she grabbed Puck's belt buckle and tugged him closer to her, kissing him.

"For old time's sake, you know. Hey! Wait. Why did you come by?"

"Oh, just to see if you and Q wanted to go get more drinks with me. Jake and Marley are staying in and babysitting the douchebag. This is much better."

"Hey Quinn, get over here and help me with Puck."

Quinn slid her robe off as she walked over to them, getting a "Damn, girl." from Brittany, who was busy getting her and Sam naked in between kissing him.

She got to Santana first and snuck between her and Puck, facing Santana, who she started kissing as she pushed the robe off of her shoulders. Then Santana spun her around to face Puck, who looked at her in awe, before kissing her passionately.

Quinn purred at Puck, "Well, I've missed those kisses, but I promised Santana a little treat first. Wanna watch?"

Puck just nodded and sat at the headboard. Santana crawled over to him, giving him a kiss before laying her head down in his crossed legs. "Feel free to touch what you can reach, darling", she said as Quinn asked Brittany to come and instruct.

"What should I do?", asked Sam.

"I'd suggest fondling or fucking your girl while she's helping with Santana. Or playing with Quinn while she's playing with Santana. Basically just jump in and enjoy this. I am basically living my hottest fantasy right now and no one is even fucking me."

"Yet.", whispered Quinn.

"Oh god."

"He's been called several times this evening already.", Santana quipped.

"You can call God?", Brittany asked.

"No Brit Brit. Um hey, how bout you get over here and give me some sweet lady loving with Quinn?"

Quinn pressed herself up to Santana on one side while Brittany laid on the other side, Brittany and Quinn taking turns kissing her and otherwise mirroring each other's actions. Brittany wasn't giving her much to go on, but she found that just feeling her way around was working pretty good too.

"Holy shit, is this surreal." Puck wondered out loud as Quinn and Brittany worked Santana into a frenzy.

"Yeah. That is just crazy."

"You haven't slept with all of them though...though maybe after tonight."

"Not if you keep talking while I'm trying to relax here tweedle dee and tweedle dum"

"Relax? Not when Puckzilla is in the room."

"Let her be Puck, You and Sam will get your turns after Santana calms down.", Quinn said as she crawled over next to Santana, spooning her while also reaching for Puck behind her and kissing him.

Meanwhile, Brittany was doing the same with Sam, but pulling Santana over to her as well. The room was filled with a cacophony of noises as their climaxes were triggered one by one. Santana continued to orchestrate their daisy chain of limbs, until nearly every combination of the five of them had been demonstrated, exhausting them all.

As they were enjoying a surprisingly non-awkward silence afterward, Puck could no longer handle his curiosity.

"So, Quinn?", he asked.

Quinn, knowing exactly what he was asking without needing elaboration, answered, "I'm not a lesbian, Puck. I don't think I'm 100% straight, but I don't really want to label myself bisexual either."

"But you had sex with two girls tonight"

"Action does not dictate orientation, asshole.", Santana chimed in.

"Whoa. whoa. I'm not trying to be a dick here. I'm just curious, since I have a history with you three and well..."

"Puck, dude, you didn't turn any of them. They just like who they like and in Brit's case that's sometimes boys and sometimes girls. In Santana's case, it's mostly girls and she identifies as a lesbian, but on occasion, as we both experienced tonight, she isn't opposed to boys all the time. In Quinn's case, she was attracted to Santana and Brittany, but might not be attracted to other girls, and seems to be mostly into guys. Sexuality can be fluid"

"Sam, you're so smart.", crowed Brittany.

"Yeah, that was surprisingly spot on.", Quinn pointed out, curling into Santana before she continued, "I'm in college, I do appreciate pretty girls, and I was curious. I still picture myself settling down with a guy, but that doesn't mean that I can't have a little fun having sex with girls, which definitely can't get me pregnant, in the meantime."

Puck lowered his head, feeling bad that it was his lack of responsibility that had gotten her to this point, where she would like to have sex with men, but was still a little gun shy because she had gotten pregnant her first time. He spooned her back and hoped that the small gesture conveyed that he did care about her.

"Good night everyone. This was fun. I hoped you all enjoyed our proposition.", Brittany smiled as she curled up on Santana's other side.

"Goodnight", they all responded.

"Glad you got a king sized bed, Santana.", quipped Puck, before turning off the light and shutting his eyes too.


	8. Peaceful Easy Feeling

Rachel slowly felt herself waking up and smiled as she felt Finn's arm tighten around her as she stirred. She wiggled her body closer to him and murmered, "Can this last forever?".

"Soon."

Rachel turned to face Finn and sweetly responded with a soft kiss.

"I love you so much. I always have and I always will."

"I know. Even when I wasn't, I was always yours. You are the only woman for me."

Tears formed in Rachel's eyes at this as she sputtered out, "Finn. I am so so sorry. I should have been faithful."

Finn held her shoulders gently, looked into her eyes and said, "Hey, hey, no. You did what I told you to. You let go."

Rachel looked into his eyes again, replying, "I didn't want to let go. I held on for months. I just lost hope when you left that morning for Lima. I - ", she sniffled and let out a sob, "I still loved you and it even took a while after that to stupidly let Brody into my life. I never loved him. I'm not sure if that makes it worse or better." She sobbed again.

"I know.", Finn said gently. "But we have to stop doing this. You didn't do anything wrong and have to stop feeling bad so we can move forward. Okay?"

"Okay", Rachel smiled at Finn, before kissing him softly and pulling her body closer into his, giggling at how quickly his arousal became apparent once she stopped crying.

"What's so funny?"

"You're so easy to turn on."

"Only for you."

She smiled and rolled on top of him, causing Finn to close his eyes and moan, "Oh god I have to move to New York as soon as possible.", before they made love once again.

"Holy fuck, Rachel. That was amazing."

"You're amazing, Finn", she smiled at him before pulling him to the bathroom with her to shower off.

After another quick round of fun in the shower and finally getting clean, they got dressed and headed out the door to meet their friends for brunch.

The stopped and stared when they go to the end of the hallway and saw Santana leave her room, followed by a guilty looking Quinn, a smug looking Puck, a nervous looking Sam, and Brittany, who just looked happy and normal.

None of their friends noticed that they were staring at them until Kurt and Blaine opened their hotel room door and Kurt blurted out, "What's with the clown car routine coming out of Santana's room? You all look like you came from an orgy."

Five very alarmed faces whipped in their direction, causing Rachel's jaw to drop, Finn and Blaine to just look confused, and Kurt to backpedal, saying, "Not that there's anything wrong with that. I was joking, but um...now you're kinda giving me a weird vibe."

"Relax, Lady Hummel. It was good times. Now it's all in the open. Can we eat?"

Everyone stared at Santana, but she merely shrugged and replied, "Looks like I'll be fielding questions after I get some coffee and food."

They settled in at their large table and a waitress quickly took their coffee orders. Rachel was snuggled next to Finn, trying to distract herself from blurting out a million curiosity fueled questions about their orgy. Finn busied himself with kissing the top of Rachel's head, but Kurt and Blaine just kept staring at Santana expectantly. The coffee arrived and once Santana got her first sip, all eyes were on her.

"Wow, I'm not sure why you all are so interested in what happened with us last night. Were you all not satisfied?"

Rachel was the only one to find her voice at that point. "I was thoroughly satisfied several times, but polyamory is interesting and despite my own proclivity for monogamy with Finn, I would like to hear more about how your tryst came into being and what happens next."

"Only Rachel Berry would be interested from an intellectual or sociological perspective.", Kurt quipped. "I just was curious because I've never known anyone to have a threesome before and you apparently had a fivesome."

"That sounds just like Rachel, just without the big words, Kurt", Blaine teased.

"So, you all had sex? How did you all um..DO that?", Finn blurted out, his brain trying to think about who had what where.

"Wow, okay, so yeah, Lady Hummel and Berry seem to be intellectually stimulated by our little night of fun and Finn wants to know the mechanics. Blaine, what's your angle here?"

"Uh. Can't you tell? I just want to know where to sign up.", Blaine joked.

Santana laughed, "Good for you, Warbler. For the rest of you, well sometimes, you find yourself wanting a little more intensity, which you can achieve when you have more than one partner. Also, despite popular belief, I wasn't the instigator of any of this, in fact, I was propositioned, but I'm not about to say no to sex."

"I can get that, but how did the instigator orchestrate this whole thing? How were all the partners decided upon? How did everyone agree on the terms of the event? Wasn't Quinn a born again virgin after babygate?"

Santana laughed, "Looking for a how-to manual on moresomes, Berry?"

Rachel looked alarmed, but recovered quickly saying, "I am more than happy with my own personal sex god, but I am curious about how this happens because I am interested in all configurations of human relationships. I might have to play a role someday and I want to understand more."

Finn stood up for Rachel then, adding, "And even if Rachel were interested in adding to our sex life, it wouldn't mean that she would love me any less, just that she wanted a different experience that I couldn't give her alone. Isn't that what you said the whole point of adding people was, Santana?"

"Wow, Finn. Bravo, you're ready for your first threesome.", Santana joked, as everyone else stared at Finn with their mouths agape, which did not go unnoticed by him.

"What?"

Quinn said what the rest were thinking, "Finn, you are one of the most jealous boyfriends. You nearly took off Jesse's head for kissing Rachel when you were supposed to be dating me! Now you're saying you could handle sharing Rachel in bed?"

Rachel just watched attentively, not wanting to influence this conversation in any way, since she never thought that Finn would be able to share her, even if that was something she wanted. She was somewhat surprised when he replied, "If she wanted me to, yeah, I would do anything to make her happy." "And - ", he said defensively, "Yes, I will admit to a jealous streak, but only when I couldn't have her, this would be different, because I'd be there with her too."

"Actually, I think Finn's got a pretty good understanding of this. He would be a pretty good multiple partners candidate. I only agreed to a threesome with Santana and Brit because it would make Brit happy. Seeing her turned on by me and seeing others focusing on her was pretty hot, AND seeing what Santana and Quinn and Puck actually did with her gave me ideas on what to try on our own too."

Kurt noticed that the wheels were turning in Rachel's head and before the conversation devolved into a discussion of whether Finchel should or shouldn't add a sexual partner, he decided to hear more about what actually happened last night. "Okay, so Sam, it seems that you and Brit were the initiators here, what happened, if we can ask?"

Brittany, who had been surprisingly silent so far, spoke up, "Yeah, I was missing Santana at the wedding and then I remembered how Santana brought me along to one of her bootie calls with Puck once and thought she might want to have some fun with Sam and I, kinda like we did with Puck that time. I love Sam and I love Santana. I'm with Sam right now, but if Santana was here and wanted to be my girlfriend, I would want to be with both of them. So I talked to Sam and asked if we could ask Santana to have sex with us. He said yes, so we headed to Santana's room, and Quinn was already there so I thought that was even better. The unholy Trinity was meant to have sex!"

"Quinn was already there? In Santana's room?", Blaine asked.

"Yeah, I was feeling adventurous and since Santana and I had fun at the wedding, she's hot as far as girls go, and she has well known sexual prowess, I decided to let her take my lesbian virginity. And, no Finn, I'm not a lesbian, not even bi really, just not 100% straight. I still prefer boys even though girls are cool too."

"Why was that directed at me? I don't care about your orientation! As long as you're happy, and not hurting anyone, I'm happy for you. You are who you are.."

"Sorry.. I thought you would think you played a role in "turning me" like Puck."

"Ouch. Yeah, I'm not Puck."

"Dude!"

"You thought you turned them gay? Dude, even I know I wasn't responsible for Santana's being a lesbian, why would Quinn experimenting have anything to do with me or you? And Quinn, you never noticed that it really didn't bother me and I was probably one of the most supportive people when Santana coming out?!"

"After you sort of made it a necessity", Kurt pointed out.

"It was an open secret. Everyone knew, and I didn't mean to out her. But we don't need to rehash this!"

"Boys, come on, I want to hear more about Sam and Brittany walking in on Santana and Quinn.", Rachel admonished.

"Well, they didn't really walk in on us. I had just finished giving Q the Santana special. "

"That's three Os in a row", Brittany interrupted.

"Oh, Finn does that for me all the time", Rachel said matter of factly, as Finn beamed with pride, Santana looked surprised, and Kurt exclaimed, "So we've heard!"

Rachel noticed Santana's look of incredulity and couldn't resist saying more, "Oh, don't look so surprised Santana, Finn is quite an attentive lover and has a very talented mouth, and hands, and is quite well endowed, the latter of which you had to have noticed whilst taking his virginity, even if he had not yet developed his other skills."

"Congrats dude, you must've learned something from hanging out with me."

"What?! No all you did was tell me to do cougars and that not using condoms worked 99% of the time for you. I just paid attention to Rachel's responses to things I tried and we talked about what we liked, which made us that much better."

Santana laughed, "Ok, yes friends, Finn has a giant sized cock to go with his giant sized body, which is quite nice if any of you are planning on propositioning Finchel after this, and we've established that Finn has improved his skill, and keeps his hobbit fully satisfied. But to return to the question at hand, Sam and Brit asked, and Q said yes, because she was hoping Brit would teach her how to return the favor to me. Then Puck must've smelled hot sex because he randomly showed up at the door just as we had all agreed, and I decided that it just wouldn't be an orgy without Puckerman."

"Noah! Were you trying to proposition Quinn?", Rachel exclaimed.

"What?! Actually no, I just wanted to see if Q and Santana wanted to go out for drinks since Jake and Marley were watching your Donkeyfaced Douchebag. But when Santana invited me to join, I sure as hell wasn't going to say no to sex with the unholy Trinity, even if I had to see Sam naked."

"Oh, so you and Sam didn't engage in any sexual activity with each other then?", asked Blaine, somewhat hopeful and somewhat disappointed, since he did have a crush on Sam despite his love for Kurt.

Sam blushed, "No, Puck and I did not directly have sex or give each other blowjobs or anything like that. We did work together on the girls and might have touched in the process, but not deliberately, since we are not attracted to each other like that. Accidentally bumping into Puck naked was more than worth it for having sex with them though."

"So what are the ramifications of your activities last night? Has this changed any of your relationships?"

"Rachel! Do you think they have had a chance to discuss that yet?", Finn pointed out.

Santana answered her though, more gently than anyone would have expected, "Rach, I know that for you, sex is something that is a part of a relationship, so I know why you'd ask that. But in our case, I don't think there are any ramifications really. Q said from the beginning that she was experimenting, and I was fine with that. Puck and I were regularly hooking up back in the day, so this was just another round of that for us. Sam and Brit were dating before and discussed this beforehand, so I don't think anything will change there so long as I'm in NY and they are in Lima. And though Q seemed to enjoy herself with Puck and Sam, she is in New Haven and they are in Lima, so I don't see this messing with any relationships or starting any new ones. I think we were all consenting adults who knew what we were getting into, which was a very fun and pleasurable night."

The rest of them nodded in agreement and Rachel seemed satisfied with her answer.

"So Puck, did you find out when Brody is returning to New York?", Finn asked, changing the subject.

"He is on a flight from Columbus at noon tomorrow. How are you getting there dude?"

"I booked a seat on Rachel and Kurt's flight at 11 out of Dayton tomorrow"

"When did you do that?", Rachel asked.

"When you were having diva night with mom and Kurt. You said you were going to break up with Brody, so I wanted to get to spend a little more time with you before having to be apart again."

Rachel smiled at that, "I love you. So thoughtful, Finn. So, Santana, when are you heading back?"

"I'm on your flight back"

"Good, then we'll all be back before Brody so we can supervise his departure from our lives. I am so sorry that you all have to deal with this."

"That's what friends do, Rachel.", Kurt said gently, "I didn't see this coming any more than you did. Only Ms. Psychic Mexican Third Eye had any idea that something was awry."

"You aren't going to ask me when my flight is, Rachel?", Puck asked pointedly.

"Um, I didn't realize you had plans to come to New York, Noah. You're going to need an air mattress though. We don't have a guest bed and our couch isn't great. When are you coming?"

"Don't listen to her, Puck, you can totally crash with me", Santana cut in.

"You didn't think I was going to let Finn deal with Donkeyface by himself, did you? I don't want to see him in jail any more than you do! I'm taking the train though. Should be in New York by tomorrow evening. I leave early in the morning."

"Thank you Noah. It's nice to know we have lots of friends in our corner."

"Thanks Puck. Hey Rachel, We should probably head back to my house soon. Mom and Burt probably want to see you and Kurt a little more before we all meet up again after dinner tonight."

"mmhmm", Rachel answered absently, clearly deep in thought about something.

"Finn, can you give me a lift home too? I came here with Blaine, but it doesn't make sense for him to drive to our house then back to his."

"Yeah, sure. Meet us by the truck in 10 minutes. We have to get the bags from our room and check out. Bye everyone! See you tonight for karaoke!"

They all trickled out of the restaurant and to their respective homes. On the way home, Rachel seemed sad, and Finn noticed that something was wrong.

"Rachel, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm just thinking about my dads. I'm really angry at them for what they did to us, but it sucks that I've lost supportive parents, because I stood up for us. Also, I was hoping to bring some of my old scrapbooks to New York, but I really don't want to see them right now to get them."

"I'm sorry, Rachel. I'm sorry I listened to them. I'm sorry that they're making you feel like this right now. I'm sorry that I am the reason for all of this."

"No apologies necessary. We've been through this already - no more. We just move on."

"Yeah, you two have been through a lot, but your love made it, and that's really something. This time feels different to everyone, I think. And Rachel, you ALWAYS have my support, and Finn's, and my dad and Carole's. I know it's not the same, but that love is unconditional. I'm not saying that your dads' love is conditional, only that I can attest to the fact that the Hudson Hummel family is yours as much as it is mine and Finn's. It really always has been."

"Kurt! You're making her cry again!", Finn hissed.

Rachel laughed at that. "It's okay. These are happy tears. I am so thankful that I have you in my life. Both of you, and your parents. Your family is really really special and I'm honored to be part of it."

When Finn, Kurt, and Rachel returned to Burt and Carole's house, Finn told them that he had an errand to run, but that he would be back in an hour. Kurt and Rachel had already convened with Carole in the kitchen and were discussing the events of the wedding, including telling Carole all about the Brody drama, mostly focusing on how happy Rachel was to be able to officially break off their relationship sooner than she was expecting.

Finn smiled as he watched Rachel interact so easily with his mom and then left. In a matter of minutes, he was standing on Rachel's porch, nervous, but determined. Hiram answered the door and gave Finn a dirty look.

"Hi Mr. Berry, I know you are not happy to see me nor are you happy that I love Rachel and she loves me, but I came here to tell you that our love is not going anywhere and because you didn't respect it, you hurt her really bad. Yeah, I hurt her badly too, but I never would have dreamed of sending her off alone if you didn't ask me to. It was a huge mistake for me to listen to you instead of my own heart. You were right when you said that you didn't force my hand, and I should've been strong enough then to not only know that sending her away alone was a bad idea, but also to stand up to you and tell you that I wouldn't leave her. At the time I thought it was selfish of me to want to stay with her when I had nothing but my love and myself to offer her, and when you told me that setting her free would be the best thing for her, I believed that even more. But I was wrong to think that. I seemed to forget that Rachel loves me just as much as I love her and she trusted me with her heart. I betrayed her trust that day, and you are wrong to have suggested to me that betraying her was in her best interest. I will forever be working to deserve her forgiveness for that that, but we have already decided to move on from that, because we were both manipulated and we both made mistakes. And you don't even seem to recognize that you should have trusted your daughter, who is the most ambitious and amazing person I know, to choose the path that was right for herself. I would love if you would like me, I would love to be a part of your family, like Rachel is already a part of mine, but I don't need your approval anymore. As long as Rachel loves me, I will be with her, I will be her family, and I will love her for eternity. I am not forcing her to be with me, and I refuse to hold her back from her dreams. I will be there, front and center when she makes her Broadway debut, and I will be the man proudly holding her bright pink purse on the red carpet when she gets her first Tony. And I will be there when she is old and gray and no longer on the stage and missing it terribly. I'm not going anywhere. She is really upset, and that kills me. She wanted to get her scrapbooks to take to New York with her, but she didn't want to see you. She doesn't even know that I'm here, but I want her to have what she wants, and if getting through you and into her room is what I have to do, then I will do it. I would do anything for her. I know what it's like to lose her. I've lost her a few times now. Once because I was young and too afraid of my feelings for her, once because I couldn't forgive her for something she did because she was young and impulsive, and once more because I loved her too much to take the chance that she would mess up her dreams because of me. I am not going to lose her again, and trust me, you do NOT want to lose her yourself. You just might though if you don't support her personal life as well as her career. She loves you and she will miss you, but your role in our last separation was a huge blow to her trust for you. You're going to have to earn that trust back. Now, that's all I came to say, but I am not leaving until I get those scrapbooks for her."

Hiram look stunned, but also a little impressed and touched by how steadfast Finn's love for Rachel was, and by how much he had matured in the last year. He opened the door a little wider and simply replied, "You know the way. You can see your way out when you're done."

"Thank you." Finn picked up the box he had set down on the porch and hoped she didn't have much there. He planned on taking everything she had left and storing whatever she didn't want to take on the plane at his house, so she didn't have to worry about her fathers and could be as mad as she wanted for as long as she wanted. He walked up the stairs and set the box down on her bed, kneeling down on her piano rug to reach for her scrapbook storage under her bed. Since they were already neatly in a box, he rolled up the piano rug and put it into the box he brought. He did a quick sweep of her drawers, which did not hold much at all and put all the probably unimportant trinkets and papers in the box anyway. He stepped into her closet and saw only one thing hanging - her senior prom dress. He carefully set that in the box too. Once he was satisfied that he had everything, he left the house and headed back to his own.

Rachel heard his truck first and came running down the stairs from Kurt's room to greet him, somewhat puzzled by the fact that he was encumbered by two boxes coming in the door. Before the contents of the boxes registered, she excitedly asked, "Where did you go, Finn? What's with the -", her voice softened as she recognized her scrapbook box, "-boxes?"

Finn grinned nervously before putting the boxes down and hugging her tightly. "I will always make sure that you have the things that you want, if it is in my power to get you those things."

"My dads let you in.", she stated with muted awe.

"I sort of told Hiram that I wasn't leaving until he let me get those scrapbooks for you. After I told him off for his role in hurting you, and explained how much it sucks to lose you, and warned him that if they didn't support your personal goals along with your career goals, that they were going to lose you."

Rachel just hugged him tighter as the tears once again streamed down her face.

"Finn.", she sobbed, "You are the single most amazing man in this world. I can't believe you did this for me. What's the other box?"

"Everything else you left. Even if you don't want to take it to New York, I brought it here, so if you ever do want it, you don't have to go back before you're ready. Rachel, you have to know that you are my family, my world, and I would do anything for you. Anything. I hope someday that I can be a part of your whole family too, but for now, you have us, and we're not going anywhere."

Rachel's head was buried in Finn's chest repeating "I love you so much" over and over as they heard a sniff from the stairs.

Rachel looked up to see that it was Kurt on the stairs and exclaimed, "Finn, you made Kurt cry too". Then Carole emerged from the other hallway with tears streaming down her face as well, "And your mom", she added.

"I'm not trying to make anyone cry. I never know what to do when someone is crying. I am so awkward.", Finn protested.

Rachel looked up at him oddly.

Finn looked down into her tear brimmed eyes, "What?"

"It's a little weird that you're saying that because you're the best person to be around when I'm upset because you always know exactly what to do to make me feel better."

"Oh."

"Kurt is a very close second though. Can't take away the role of a girl's best friend."

Kurt gave her a watery smile as Rachel opened one of her arms and waved him over. "I am going to love living with both of you so much."

"You three make me so happy. I wish Burt and I could move to New York to see you more often. But in our own place. You are all growing up and need your own space now."

"Oh mom! Get in here too. My arms are big enough to fit around everyone!"

They hugged and then broke apart. Finn carried the boxes up to his room, followed by Rachel and Kurt, who was also interested in what had arrived in the boxes. Carole went back to making dinner for them all. Finn barely plopped the boxes on the bed before Kurt was sifting through one.

"You brought her prom dress?"

"Yeah. I know it's not like she'll want to wear it on a regular basis, but it had meaning to me, and I think it had meaning to Rachel too. And she was gorgeous in it, so I wouldn't mind getting to escort her to an event with her wearing it again."

Rachel smiled at him, and looked back into the box.

"The piano rug?! FINN!", Rachel laughed.

"Well -"

"Are you about to say something that I don't really want to know about? Like how you two made love for the first time on the family room blankets?"

"Hey, how do you know about that?"

"Finn, Kurt and I are BEST FRIENDS. You did wash the blankets after that didn't you?"

"Was I supposed to?"

"FINN! Auuuugh! Gross! I curled up in those blankets all the time last year."

"I just assumed that mom washes them when she washes the clothes"

"Oh, Finn! I knew I should've put them in before I left."

"Just so you two know, fornicating on shared spaces in our apartment is forbidden. You will have a bed to share or apparently the piano rug. That is where you can fornicate, preferably when no one else is home."

Rachel giggled, "We only did that once! Its funny that Finn brought the rug though, because he had a tendency to over roll the bed when we were making out. The piano rug was like his landing pad.", Rachel laughed even more. "I think we're going to have to buy a bigger bed, which might help. I have a mattress to burn when we return anyway, even if Finn did sleep in it first."

"No, don't burn it, we'll just disinfect and then we can have a guest bed. Puckerman can sleep there when Santana inevitably kicks him out of her bed during his visit."

"Oh, good idea. So do you boys want to see why I wanted those scrapbooks?"

"Yeah, I kinda do, since I went and got them and all", Finn said.

Rachel opened the scrapbook box and took out the first book, which was the most recent. "I never got to show either of you the last scrapbook of high school. Just look."

Finn and Kurt looked over her shoulder as she flipped through the pictures from their senior year. They were both pictured heavily, along with their friends in glee club and snapshots of their performances. There was even a page dedicated to Finn and Rachel's first wedding, even though they didn't end up married that day. The book ended with four blank pages. The first two were reserved for "Our Wedding" and the second two were reserved for "Finn, Kurt, & Rachel move to New York".

"Oh Rachel. We might be a year or so late, but we will fill these pages with good memories.", Finn said, snuggling into her back.

"I know. That's why I wanted my scrapbooks. But I am going to leave these pages blank. These new memories we are about to make will go into a new scrapbook. This is my truth, and all the moments, good and bad led to who I am now. I was just ready to finally look at these again."

"Did you make any scrapbooks in New York?"

"I can show you when we get back. I think I was trying to rewrite history though, since there's nearly no pictures of Brody in there at all. It's mostly our adventures in New York with Santana. There are a few from when Finn and Blaine visited, too."

"Well it's pretty true to life, it's not like Brody was around that much anyway. Hey, I'm going to see if Carole needs help in the kitchen. You two should get packed so we can stay out late tonight with our friends. I'm already packed from the hotel, but I'm guessing that you're not packed at all, Finn."

"Sounds good Kurt. I have to decide what I'm bringing-"

"Like the piano rug"

Rachel giggled, "-And what is staying here in Finn's room."

Kurt left to go downstairs while Rachel and Finn sorted through the box.

"Hey Finn, how long are you staying in New York?"

"Unfortunately, only a week. I have to get back to help Will with Glee before regionals, and I want to work as much as possible to save up money before moving and fund more trips to see you."

"I figured. I just was wondering how much luggage space we would have to take this stuff with us. I will bring the piano rug for you if there's room.", she said with a seductive smile.

"I'll pack what I need for the week and we'll fit what we can around it. But if you want it all, I will be back to see you for weekends and stuff even before I move, so I'll just bring what I can each visit."

They spent a few minutes gathering up clothes from around the room and Rachel rearranged her suitcase, making room for a few of the scrapbooks in the process.

"Well I'm packed. I just left out what I will need to shower tomorrow and there's room for my clothes from today and my pajamas. I managed to fit a few of the scrapbooks in there."

"I just have to grab a few things from the drier and I think I'll be ready too. I should have a good amount of space, even after bringing the piano rug. I'm using our biggest suitcase."

Finn left to get his clothes out of the drier and Rachel lay down on his bed, smiling. She couldn't help but think that she was truly happy for the first time in nearly a year. When Finn came back with his clothes, she was asleep. He smiled at how peaceful she looked, finished packing himself, and then gently laid down next to her. They were still napping when Carole called them for dinner, and then sent Kurt up to see why they weren't coming down.

Kurt walked through the door with his eyes closed and said, "Please be decent. It's dinner time." But all he heard was a light snore. He carefully opened his eyes, and sighed. "Damn you two for being so cute." He went to Rachel's side of the bed first and gently wiggled her arm, saying, "Rachel, it's dinner time. Can you wake up Finn?"

"Huh? Oh Kurt. I guess I -", she paused feeling Finn's arm around her. "I guess I fell asleep and Finn joined me after he finished packing! We'll be down in a minute or two."

"Okay"

"Finn sweetie, it's time to get up. It's time to eat.". Rachel said, kissing his cheek.

"Mmmrrph", Finn replied, easily pulling Rachel on top of him.

"Finn! It's dinner time, your mom and Burt are waiting for us."

"Mmmrph", Finn mumbled again. This time Rachel decided to go for the one surefire way to wake Finn up.

Finn woke up, saying "Oh my God, RACHEL!"

"Good, now you're awake. It's dinner time!"

"Can you wake me up like that every day?"

Rachel just rolled her eyes. "Come on. We were called for dinner almost 10 minutes ago!"

Finn bounced over to the table smiling and happy.

"Well someone woke up happy from his nap", Burt chuckled as Kurt looked pointedly at Rachel who feigned innocence.

Finn just kept smiling ear to ear.

"Rachel! What did you do to him? He never wakes up like this",Carole asked in amazement.

Kurt nearly spit out his water, sputtering, "I don't think its something you can replicate, Carole." Rachel blushed and then glared at Kurt.

"You would think that they would learned that whenever Finn is that happy and Rachel is involved its because he got laid in one form or another, and to just not comment on it."

"Hey, I get happy for other reasons too!"

Rachel giggled, "True, but this time it was because you woke up in the middle of fellatio."

"Fellatio?", Burt asked, confused.

"Its a fancy word for blowjob, dad. Finn woke up to Rachel's mouth taking care of his morning wood, or I guess evening wood in this case."

Everyone blushed after that except for Finn, who was still just smiling even when everyone else was looking uncomfortable.

"Why is everyone embarrassed? I have an awesome girlfriend with no gag reflex! We love each other, these things happen."

"Finn, please stop talking", Rachel begged him.

"Look, I made vegan lasagna!", Carole announced.

"Oh Finn, don't look like that, I made a meat lasagna too!", Carole laughed again. "But if you're going to live with Rachel and Kurt, you might want to get used to eating vegan food too."

"Kurt's not vegan", Finn pointed out.

"True, I'm not, but we do eat mostly vegan, because Rachel is, and the vegan food she makes when she cooks is delicious and when I'm cooking for us, it's just easier to make one dinner rather than two. Plus, now that we're doing our own grocery shopping, we have noticed that meat is much more expensive than other foods, even when those other foods are healthy and organic. Santana is getting pretty good at making us some vegan mexican food too. Santana and I do eat meat when we eat out though."

"Don't worry, Finn. I can cook meat for you. I don't force anyone to eat vegan. And I did make some meat for Kurt in the beginning, but then stopped because he liked my other dishes anyway and it was easier and cheaper."

Once they all settled into their meal, Burt asked, "So Finn, I assume you're moving to New York at some point. What is your general plan?"

"Well, this week I will be in New York helping move Brody out and spending a little more time with Rachel when she's not in class. Then when I get back here, I am going to work a lot to save up money whenever I'm not helping Will with glee. I'll probably plan a few weekends in New York too, to look for jobs that I can work at in the summer and around my class schedule in the fall, and of course see Rachel and Kurt. Then I will move to New York just after Glee performs at Nationals, hopefully with some money saved up in case I don't start working right away."

"You got that all worked out in the last couple of days?", Carole asked.

"Well, no. It's been my plan since I applied to schools in New York. I'm just waiting to hear back from Music Education programs. My initial plan was to move to New York on my own and then win Rachel back and move in with her, but this way is much better. We will make it work."

"Yes we will!", Rachel agreed.

"But first, we're just going to relax and have fun singing karaoke with our friends tonight, before heading back to the reality of New York and treacherous dance classes tomorrow.", Kurt pointed out.

"I will be so happy to move on from Freshman Dance! I am thankful that Cassie has forced me to improve my dancing though. Hey, I wonder if Puck is going to make Jake and Marley be on Brody watch again. I really should make them some banana bread or something. I feel bad."

"I don't think Brody is really in need of much babysitting really. He seemed to get it that causing trouble wasn't worth his while. Plus Satan threatened to report him to the authorities if he tried anything. He doesn't want to mess up his future.", Kurt added.

"Well that's something I guess.", Finn responded, before noticing the time and saying, "Whoa, it got late fast. We should get going to meet everyone."

"Rachel, go put on something cute and then get back down here."

Rachel huffed, but climbed the stairs to change and emerged a moment later in a cute skirt and top. Kurt sighed, but Finn cheered, "Yay! Now THAT is a real Rachel Berry outfit! No more silly chic shorts."

Rachel laughed, actually glad to be feeling more like herself again, as she gave Finn a little squeeze as he guided her through the door, while Kurt also smiled, happy to have his best friend whole again.


	9. Because We Can

AUTHORS NOTE: When the awful news of Cory Monteith's death broke, I briefly considered not writing anymore - I didn't have it in me. In fact, I was kicking myself for letting myself fall in love with glee, and with Finn and Rachel, and getting sucked into following the real lives of Cory and Lea, rooting for them fiercely, both on screen and off. I can't help it though, I do love glee, especially Finchel, and while this really sucks right now, I'm glad I didn't miss out on glee (although the last moments of S3 and most of S4 have been a bit disappointing). If I was writing Monchele fiction, I would've stopped, because there are no more stories to tell in Cory's life, but Finn is a character, and he's NOT Cory. He is a beautifully portrayed, richly layered, vibrant, character, for whom there are more stories to tell. Being a fan fiction writer gives me something that the writers of glee do not have; a means for Finn to live on and have his happy ending with Rachel, an ending that sadly, we will not see unfold on TV and even worse, that Lea will not have with Cory. So I will continue this story as long as I have ideas for it. Finn is part of Cory's legacy, so if you are inclined, see this as a tribute to his life's work. Whether you have been reading this story since I first published it, or have just found it when looking for some Finchel happiness in the midst of sadness about Cory, I hope that you will enjoy it and keep reading.

Kurt, Rachel, and Finn entered the karaoke bar, a little wary that they were able to enter so easily being underage, especially on a Friday night. But as they took in the surroundings, they realized that the run down bar was probably happy to have any customers at all. As Rachel and Kurt made a beeline for their friends in the corner booth, Finn surprisingly went straight to the karaoke book flipped for a second or two, found what he wanted and wrote down the number. He didn't give the karaoke dj his number, but instead rejoined the group as Santana spoke up, "Well, you're not the one I expected to be hitting the song book first."

"I'm not singing first, I just know what I want to sing, and wanted to get the number down."

"Oooh. What are you going to sing?", Rachel asked excitedly.

"You'll see. It's kinda perfect."

"Is it 80's rock?", Kurt blurted out, rolling his eyes.

"No! It's new. You people are just going to have to wait. Go on, pick your songs. If you wanna hear mine, you're gonna have to sing for it."

"I was kind of hoping that you'd sing with me again, baby. I sing solos all the time at school. I miss singing with you. Our voices blend perfectly."

"If that makes you happy, I'll do it. But your voice deserves it's own spotlight - you don't need me."

"I know that I don't NEED your voice to sound good, and I do love being a soloist, but I WANT your voice now because I like the way we sound together and I like the way I feel when we hit perfect harmony and blending. You're the best duet partner I've had because we read each other's cues and because we equally feel what we're singing."

"What song, Rach?"

"All you need is love"

Finn smiled at her choice and responded, "Put in the request. Whenever you're ready, I'll be there."

Rachel squealed and hugged him before scampering off to the table scattered with song books. She was soon followed by most of their group.

Blaine shuffled a little in their small crowd to end up next to Finn and leaned over to tell him, "It will be really good to hear you sing again, Finn. I know you sang last night, but did you realize that you haven't sang, even as an example in Glee since Christmas?"

"Yeah, I know. It's because I was out of practice - I didn't sing much in glee before then either - only when I thought I needed to to help. It hurt too much. I only started really practicing again at home after Schue asked me to sing at the wedding. I didn't want to make a total fool of myself, especially not.."

"...in front of Rachel."

Finn looked a little sheepish but nodded, "yeah. She's SO good, I'll never measure up to her, but I love the way she looks at me when I sing. It's like I hung the moon and I'm not even THAT great."

"Dude, you sang lead in the top show choir in the nation. Does that mean nothing?"

"That was just one song, and it was a group effort."

"Oh Finn, you are way too modest for your own good."

"Yeah,", Rachel said, after overhearing the last little bit of their conversation, "I've always told you that you're better than you think and that you sell yourself short. If you wanted to perform professionally, you could get there. But I think that the students you will teach will benefit from your talent and your leadership, and I know that is your passion. I think we benefitted from having Mr. Schue's talent shared with us, and you will be similar."

"He already is, even better than Mr. Schue if you ask me.", Blaine added.

Finn blushed, "Well okay then. You're gonna hear me sing tonight, maybe several times, because I finally have something to sing about again. And I will work hard to make sure that I am an incredible teacher. Thanks for believing in me." He gave Blaine a hug and then pulled Rachel close to him, leaning down to kiss her cheek.

"Santana, get on up here! You can start us up tonight.", the karaoke dj announced.

"This song basically inspired me to move to New York. Well, this song, and the fact that Lady Hummel and Pod-Rachel clearly needed my street smarts there."

Rachel rolled her eyes, but also smiled as "Girl on Fire" became the dominant sound in the room, knowing that she was grateful for Santana's friendship, something that she never would've imagined she would have even wanted for much of high school.

"This song is perfect for her, don't you think?", Kurt said to Rachel.

Rachel nodded as Kurt continued, "but do you think she will ever call us just Kurt and Rachel?"

Rachel laughed, "I would worry that there was something wrong if she did! I'm really coming to appreciate Santana though, even if she does have some weird ways of showing her friendship."

"Yeah", Kurt chuckled, "Have you told Finn that it's likely that she will go through his stuff once he moves in?"

Finn was sitting with Rachel on his lap, listening more to the music than Kurt and Rachel, but caught the part of the conversation when he was mentioned, "Wait. What? She's gonna go through my stuff?"

"Well, maybe not. She was on a mission to find out more about Brody when she apparently went through all of our stuff. She mentioned it was just something that she did, but perhaps she wouldn't be motivated to look through yours.", Kurt reassured him.

"But we are finding that there really are no secrets in the loft when Santana is concerned.", Rachel added.

Finn looked perplexed.

"Oh honey, it's going to be fine. She really is a decent roommate, believe it or not, if you can get over the fact that she'll never call you by your given first name."

"Can we set ground rules on the nicknames, because I REALLY dislike Finnessa."

"I thought only Puck used that one.", Kurt pointed out.

"Oh, yeah."

"And her nicknames aren't really mean anymore."

"Okay", Finn said, "It's not like I'm going to let some insults keep me away from living with you anyway."

Rachel smiled, "Good".

Santana finished up her song to the small crowd cheering and hopped off the small stage to return to the group.

Rachel gave Santana a nod indicating that she was impressed as the announcer asked, "Finchel? Is that a name? Um."

Finn laughed at the fact that Rachel had put in their song with their mash-up name, and bounded up to the stage, speaking clearly into the microphone, "Hi! I'm Finn and that," he said pointing at Rachel who was still approaching the stage, "beautiful creature is Rachel."

He paused, pointed to himself and said, "Fin", then quickly pointed to Rachel, "chel. Finchel."

"Oh. Well enjoy your song, Finchel."

They giggled and started singing together, "Love, love, love. Love, love, love. Love, love, love."  
Finn looked to Rachel and she gave him an almost imperceptible nod, knowing that he wanted the first verse. He sang to her, and only her, as she subtly added the love repetition underneath,, "There's nothing you can do that can't be done. Nothing you can sing that can't be sung. Nothing you can say but you can learn how to play the game. It's easy."

She naturally came in for the next verse, singing, "Nothing you can make that can't be made. No one you can save that can't be saved. Nothing you can do but you can learn how to be you in time. It's easy."

They sang the chorus strongly together, their emotions reverberating through the room as well as their proven harmonies. To them there was no one else in the room.

As they were singing, Kurt couldn't help but keep looking at Blaine. He really was still in love with him, and even though he meant what he said about being single for a while and dating other people, the meaning of the Beatles' lyrics bored through his soul as he contemplated if love was really all he needed to make it work with Blaine. He was in the middle of his thoughts when Blaine whispered to him, "I can see what you're thinking, but listen to the next verse."

Rachel's voice rang crystal clear through the room, "Nothing you can know that isn't known.

Nothing you can see that isn't shown.", before Finn joined her, belting out, " Nowhere you can be that isn't where you're meant to be. It's easy.", with every ounce of emotion they had, their love almost visibly emanating from them in a radiant glow.

As they started the last chorus, Blaine whispered again toward Kurt's wide eyes, "You're right where you're meant to be. Explore, be free, and just know that I love you, and my heart will be patiently waiting for the day I move to New York."

Kurt stared at Blaine, with love in his eyes, and simply said, "I love you, too. Thank you.", before kissing him full on as the rest of their friends joined Finn and Rachel in singing their ending, while also staring at the kiss happening in their midst.

As the song ended, Santana couldn't contain herself anymore and blurted out, "It figures that Finn and Rachel would sing a song where they repeat the word 'love' over and over again ten thousand times, and that there was so much emotion charging the song that it spilled over to the gay wonder twins, who aren't even dating anymore."

Kurt and Blaine lethargically separated and looked sheepish.

"Um, oops.", Kurt let out.

"I better go put in my song request", Blaine said before hurrying over to the table.

The karaoke dj called a name from another group in the bar as Rachel hurried over to Kurt and heatedly whispered, "What the hell was that? You never told us what happened last night. Are you back together? Are you just hooking up? Oh I am a horrible friend for getting so caught up in my own happiness and drama, but mostly happiness."

"Rachel. Stop. Alright, here's the quick version. We have plenty of time for an analysis later. We had sex last night. I fucked his brains out and then made him make love to me, which was a little mean, but he actually liked it. We agreed that it was just a hookup and didn't mean we were back together. During your song, he noticed me thinking and the boy knows me too well, but he told me I was right to be single right now and that he'd be waiting until the day he moved to New York, and we'd make a real decision then. But he's coming back now, so just act as normal as you can, okay?"

"Of course. Oh my goodness are these performers flat! And their breath is all over the place."

"I know. Clearly they do not have our talent."

Finn plopped down between Kurt and Rachel and added, "they don't even look like they're having fun up there, and that guy is singing a key lower than his friends."

Kurt and Rachel looked at each other knowingly and both just gave Finn a huge bear hug.

"Uh, guys, I love you both, but what is this tackle hug about?"

"You sound like a music teacher, Finn. That's all. We're really proud of you."

"But I always noticed that stuff."

"Exactly. That's the point, Finn. You ALWAYS noticed that stuff, you always led others. You're just finally able to realize that's what you do, and it's really beautiful to watch you when you're confident."

Finn looked at Rachel and kissed her sweetly, before Quinn sauntered over and said, "Okay love birds, enough for the moment. Rachel, would you sing with me, Brittany, and Santana?"

"What song?"

"Lady Marmalade"

Finn choked as Rachel looked at him, giggled, and asked, "which part would you like me to sing?"

"You're not going to demand the Christina Aguilera part?"

Finn's eyes bugged out again as he imagined Rachel in an outfit similar to Christina's in the video, and he mumbled, "Oh god Rachel is hotter than Christina in that outfit".

Quinn, Kurt, and Blaine stared at him, as Rachel screeched, "FINN!"

"Shit, was that out loud? Fuck I'm in trouble"

"Wait, you actually got Rachel into a Moulin Rouge outfit?", Quinn couldn't help but ask.

At the sound of "Rachel" and "Moulin Rouge", Santana and Puck walked over to hear what was going on, knowing that it was bound to be good.

"Berry got into the Christina Aguilera lingerie for you? Damn girl. I didn't know you had it in you. Color me impressed", Santana applauded as she spoke.

"Please tell me there are pictures, Finn."

"Puck, this is my girlfriend we're talking about - shut the fuck up. I'm in enough trouble as it is and I sure as hell am NOT showing you any pictures."

Artie and Sam had gathered with them by then and Artie choked out, "Hold up. There ARE pictures of this?"

Rachel put her head in her hands, buried her head in Blaine's shoulder and groaned.

Puck looked like a young child on Christmas morning, "Holy Shit! There ARE pictures!"

Rachel and Finn were both deep red, but then Tina gave Puck a glare, before pointing out, "Well of course, there are pictures. Finn and Rachel were and are a committed couple and that's pretty normal to have a stash of personal photos. Especially when you're in high school and you don't necessarily get to make love to your significant other every time that you'd like to. Sometimes it helps to have a visual to help you take off the edge, right?"

Now all their eyes were on Tina, who Mike defended, "they're also quite helpful when you're stressed out and away at college and your girlfriend isn't your girlfriend anymore."

Mercedes commented, "Well this is quite the interesting night. Wouldn't be a glee club get together without some drama.", as Mike and Tina retreated to the bathroom hallway and the dj called out, "Quinn, Santana, Brittany, and Rachel"

"Rachel, can you sing Christina's part?"

"Of course.", she answered Santana, then teased, "Oh, and Finn? I still have the lingerie. In my suitcase."

Finn's eyes bugged out again as his visibly gulped, watching his girlfriend wiggle her perfect ass as she approached the stage. He couldn't keep his eyes off her and quite a few dirty fantasies crossed his mind about all four of them as they commanded the attention of nearly every person in the audience. Kurt took one look at Finn and muttered, "No one is getting any damned sleep tonight."

Puck noticed Finn struggling to keep it cool watching the girls gyrate on stage, and took it upon himself to freak him out, "Dude, you managed to fuck two of them, and get to at least second base with three of them. Not bad. Bet you have some dirty thoughts right now."

"Only of Rachel", Finn answered automatically.

Puck laughed, "Yeah, right."

"Oh god, you can't tell, can you? Rachel will kill me."

Puck laughed again, "No dumbass, gotcha, though. It's only natural to fantasize about those 4 though. They are the hottest girls I've ever known, and I've fucked three of them and made out with all of them. I'd know."

Finn glared at Puck.

"Down boy. I would NEVER touch Rachel now, no matter how much sex appeal she oozes and we've been over babygate for a long time now. I was mostly referring to fucking the three of them last night, anyway."

Finn visibly relaxed, but then tensed up again when Puck added, "Oh damn. I think Santana has herself a new girl crush though. She is undressing your girl with her eyes, and Rachel seems to be enjoying teasing the hell out of her."

Finn muttered, "This song can't end fast enough."

After a few moments, it did, and the moment that Rachel was off that stage, Finn was glaring at Santana for a split second and then had Rachel up against the wall, kissing her passionately the next, prompting Kurt to further his previous comment, "Or we're all just going to get a live sex show right here before they ever get home."

Finn finally unlatched himself from her lips and they looked at each other with a burning desire in their eyes.

"I should sing that more often if you react like that."

"Do you like Santana?", Finn blurted out.

"Of course, she's my friend now, Finn. But why are we talking about Santana when you just kissed me senseless. Oh god, no. Finn!", her voice dropped lower, "Please tell me you are not interested in Santana again because of that song."

"What?! No. no. Oh god NO! She's a lesbian, Rach. She was coming on to you."

Rachel laughed then, "Oh, you're JEALOUS of Santana. Over the song. Oh Finn, you have nothing to worry about. Remember, I love you."

"Yeah, I know, but what if you had one of those experimenting things like Quinn did yesterday?"

"Well Quinn is single, and so is Santana. And so was Puck, and Brittany and Sam had an agreement. I would never experiment without your express permission and probably involvement."

"Involvement?", Finn choked out.

"Yeah silly. I love you. I'm with you, forever. So, in the crazy event that I would hook up with Santana, you would totally be there too. Isn't it every guy's fantasy to have a threesome anyway?"

"Did you just say threesome?" Finn asked, his head spinning at the thought.

"Case in point. But I wasn't actually inviting you to one. I was just pointing out that...Wait. Do you want me to hook up with Santana?"

Finn knew he was in very dangerous territory now, and decided to deflect for a moment, "Well do you WANT to hook up with Santana?"

For a split second Rachel thought that wouldn't be half bad, but then answered honestly, "I've never thought about it before. I am honestly fully satisfied with you and only you. I don't need anyone else".

"And I love you, and I'm more than satisfied with you and only you and I don't need anyone else, either, but I asked you if you wanted to, not if you needed to."

Rachel took a deep breath before continuing, "Okay, well I wouldn't be opposed to such a thing, but I want to be very clear that you are my soul mate, and that I love you best."

"Ditto"

"Finn, why are we discussing this?"

"Puck said that Santana was undressing you with her eyes, and that you were enjoying teasing her up there."

"Finn, while I have no idea what, if any, attraction Santana might have, I can assure you that I was just having fun with the song. It's a sexy song. I was being sexy for you."

At that moment, Santana walked by on her way to the bathroom, commenting, "Yeah you were. Finn, your girl is hotter than hell."

They both turned to her and their jaws dropped.

"What?", Santana said defensively, "I'm not going to steal her away from you, Loverboy. I know better than to get between Finchel."

Finn and Rachel looked at each other guiltily and Santana raised an eyebrow at them, chuckling, "...unless you want me between you, that is", clearly catching on to what their look might have meant.

"I love Finn" "I love Rachel", they sputtered out simultaneously.

"Well on that note, I'm gonna go take a piss and maybe when I get back you two can figure out why that was just awkward."

"Finn, this is a little too crazy right now. I don't want to hook up with Santana right now. I just got you back, I don't want to add any more people right now.", Rachel said honestly, shaking with nerves.

"Hey, hey. Relax.", Finn said, pulling her closer to him, feeling her still trembling a little, "I love you and I agree."

"Oh thank god. You had me worried for a minute there."

Finn looked her in the eyes and kissed her slowly as they heard the announcer call Puck up to the stage.

The music drifted to Rachel's ear and she broke her kiss with Finn and said, "Is Puck really singing this? I mean he sounds really good on it, but um...Do you hear the lyrics?"

Finn chuckled, "I think he might be singing to Quinn. I have to see this. Because I'm pretty sure that he's basically calling her crazy."

As they walked back to their group, Rachel asked, "How does Puck know about Hunter Hayes? I could see this in Sam's repertoire, but Puck? Does Quinn like this stuff?"

"I think so.", Finn replied, as Sam confirmed, "Yeah, she likes his sound."

They saw Puck singing and focusing on Quinn. Rachel sat down next to Quinn and found that once she sat down, that Puck basically started singing to both of them, which made her grip Finn closer to her.

She whispered to Finn, "Why is he singing to me too?"

Finn looked equally confused and just said, "Tonight is weird, but I wouldn't blame him for wanting you. You're super sexy today. I mean you're always gorgeous and sexy, but you're doing crazy things to people today. We'll be lucky if they don't all follow us to my bed tonight."

"Thank you, Finn. I guess I'm just irresistible because I'm happy and taken.", she replied before leaning over to Quinn, "So what has gotten into Puck?"

"I have NO idea. I'm not sure whether I should be turned on or scared. Or scared that I'm turned on."

"Seriously."

When Rachel started talking to Quinn, Finn got up and put in his song request.

"Kurt Elizabeth Hummel, you're next", the dj called as Puck headed over to Quinn and Rachel walked over to Blaine. Kurt closed his eyes and muttered, "Here goes nothing. I must be crazy.".

Blaine sat and listened intently to Kurt doing an amazing job channeling Hayley Williams, singing, "We are broken". He was hopeful, but still unsure about what kind of chance he had with Kurt after he screwed up so bad, especially in New York where they weren't the only two gay kids anymore.

"He really does love you, you know.", Rachel said to him.

"But we are broken. You hear the song."

"Yeah, but listen to more than just that lyric. The song is about trying to figure out how to get over the pain and move on, which he wants to do together. You just have to give him time. I'm going to be honest, he does likes Adam, but it's going to be a fling. Adam isn't you. He just needs to get himself out there. After all, you did."

"Ouch"

Finn chimed in, "Blaine, Rachel didn't mean any harm by that. We ALL put ourselves out there at some point, but Kurt hasn't really. Other than you, he's never really met any other viable partners. Even those of us who have been around viable partners needed some freedom to be sure about what we wanted. Letting go was the hardest thing I've ever had to do, but I had to be sure, you know? For me it wasn't that I needed to be sure about Rachel being the one - by that time, I knew. I wouldn't have proposed if I didn't. But I had to be sure that I could become something, and sure that Rachel had every possible opportunity to succeed. Kurt has to be sure that you're the one because you are, and not just because you're the only one. I think he also has to be sure that in an environment with even more temptation, that you're going to be faithful. That it's him that you truly want. If it's meant to be, it'll be."

As Kurt sang the last of the song, "Give us life again 'Cause we just wanna be whole", he looked right at Blaine, who gave him a smile and continued to watch until Kurt was coming off the stage toward him, flushed.

"I just have to trust the universe I guess."

"It worked for us. Now go spend some time with Kurt."

"Warbler Blaine", the DJ called.

"Hey, I didn't write my name in as 'Warbler Blaine'! Who let Santana near the submission table?"

Santana just laughed as Kurt muttered, "That explains the 'Kurt Elizabeth Hummel'. Were you the one that put in 'Finchel' too?"

"No, that was me. I like our portmanteau.", Rachel pointed out.

Blaine jumped right into the song,, his eyes never leaving Kurt, "Right from the start, You were a thief, You stole my heart, And I your willing victim, I let you see the parts of me, That weren't all that pretty, And with every touch you fixed them, Now you've been talking in your sleep, oh, oh, Things you never say to me, oh, oh, Tell me that you've had enough, Of our love, our love..."

"I love him, but does it always have to be Pink with him?"

"Kurt! Did you just say you loved Blaine?!"

"I guess I did. But, Rachel, that's not the point. He's singing Pink again!"

"Which you secretly love, even if it is predictable"

"Yeah, it's not really a secret. I'm totally going to sleep with him again. I have zero self control. What's wrong with me? I like Adam, I want to date him, but Blaine still takes my breath away."

"It sounds like you want to see what sex with someone else is like. But let me tell you, if you're not in love with them, it just sucks.", Finn blurted out.

"Are you seriously dissing sex with Santana?", Puck asked incredulously. "I don't even know how that's possible."

"He wasn't so great either.", Santana pointed out, adding, "Although rumor has it that he's improved since then.", when she felt Rachel's glare boring into her.

"You felt something for her when you were fuck buddies, but I didn't. I was just trying to keep up with Rachel, which was really stupid, but that's not the point. The point was that we're talking about Kurt wanting to do this Adam guy, not my epic fail at losing my virginity the right way."

Kurt sighed, "Yeah. I do. It's awful, but yeah. I love Blaine, but I'm a little jealous he got to see who else was out there. Sure. He knows that he likes me more than that other guy, but I do like Adam, and I want to be sure that I want to be with Blaine more before I settle down with him."

"That's exactly what the rest of us seemed to do too.", Finn pointed out.

"Perhaps, but you two didn't need to sort out how you felt for each other, only the mechanics of how to be together. You knew your love was forever so much that it scared the crap out of 3 of your 4 four parents, not to mention half of your friends. But you both KNEW. Even while with other people - Brody, Quinn, Santana, Jesse, Puck - you knew that your hearts were permanently connected. And THAT is how sure I want to be."

Finn and Rachel looked at each other, reveling in the fact that they really had finally figured it out.

"Oh come on, don't start now."

"Oh fine, but Kurt, you should go up there with him. This Pink song is actually a duet.", Rachel said as she pushed at Kurt to get him out of his chair.

Kurt got on stage just in time to sing the harmonies on the second verse. He might not be as sure as Finn and Rachel, but he just wanted to feel okay with what he had now. And right now, he had his first love to sing with and he was happy that he could give Blaine the hope that he needed to hang on until he was ready again.

Finn and Rachel cuddled while their friends around them buzzed in conversation and Kurt and Blaine sang out their feelings.

As Blaine and Kurt were finishing, Brittany spoke to no one in particular, "Do you think there will ever be a time when all of us are with our soulmates and there is no drama?"

Santana answered her, "Brit, we might not all be paired up, but we're all pretty content and happy and no one is fighting within the group for each other, so that's a start. I think that we're all soul mates. A whole glee club of soul mates, connected forever. I think we're beyond the drama - besides, most of the drama usually involved Finn and Rachel, so if they're stable, the rest of us usually follow!"

"You and Sam aren't fighting over me any more?"

"Do you want me to be fighting with Sam over you?"

"I want you to be happy and I miss you."

"I miss you too, Brit, and you'll always be my best friend, but I need to spend some time finding myself. You're happy with Sam, right? I live in New York and I love my life there. I'm figuring things out. Love will follow when it's time. Until then, I'll be having fun with the wrong ones, and I'll always accept your invitations, especially since I know that Sam-I-Am here is decent in bed. So no drama and no worries."

Brittany giggled at that and said, "I love you Santana. I love all of my glee family. And I'm so happy that Finn and Rachel are finally back together. We might have to watch them kiss all the time, but everyone is so much happier when they're not miserable!"

"Case in point.", Santana said, pointing at Finn and Rachel, who had lost interest in watching Kurt and Blaine and were indeed kissing passionately again. They must have sensed everyone focused on them again, because they came up for air and Finn responded, "Did someone need something, because I've been deprived of Rachel's lips for a while and I'd like to continue making up for lost time."

"Resume you two.", Mercedes said, rolling her eyes. "I just wish I had a kissing buddy right now."

"Oh, Mercedes, we love you!", Kurt exclaimed flanking her on one side when Blaine took the other, both swooping down to kiss her cheeks after hopping off the stage.

"Well at least I have my gay arm candy for now!"

"Finn Hudson, please join us on the stage"

"Um, is there a Finn Hudson around?", the DJ repeated as Finn did not notice that he was called.

Puck noticed though, and kicked Finn square in the shin, causing him to almost bite Rachel's lip.

"What was that for, asshole?"

"Language, Finn"

Puck rolled his eyes and pointed to the stage, "You're going to miss your turn, Cassanova. DJ just called your ass up there twice."

"Oh! Sorry Rachel. I really do want to sing for you.", he said, bounding up to the stage happily.

"Hi, I'm Finn Hudson and this song is for my awesome girlfriend."

He started right in on the beat, singing, "I don't wanna be another wave in the ocean, I am a rock not just another grain of sand, I wanna be the one you run to when you need a shoulder, I ain't a soldier but I'm here to take a stand, Because we can"

Rachel's eyes were already starting to fill, knowing just how perfect this song was at this exact point in their story. She was so proud of him for having perfect song selection, not only for his vocal range, but also for it's poignancy and meaning, and it's anthem-like quality. She quietly pushed Puck, Mike, and Sam up to join him on the chorus harmonies and she stood as well, pushing Artie up the ramp, as there was a part she wanted to sing to Finn as well.

Finn smiled at his growing entourage, continuing with the verse, "She's in the kitchen staring out the window, So tired of living life in black and white, Right now she's missing those technicolor kisses, When he turns down the lights."

He handed his microphone to Rachel instinctively, reading her cues perfectly and let her sing out, "Lately he's feeling like a broken promise, In the mirror staring down his doubt, There's only one thing in this world that he knows, He said forever and he'll never let her down"

Rachel beamed at him when she handed the microphone back, settling into his side with his arm around her as he sang the chorus again with the rest of the boys joining him, until Rachel jumped in for the last line with them, "Because we can".

Finn and Rachel sang the next verse together, "TV and takeout on the coffee table, Paper dishes, pour a glass of wine, Turn down the sound and move a little closer, And for the moment everything is alright", the boys joining in for the repeating chorus, only dropping out for the last lines, where Rachel jumped in and sang with Finn again through the end, "Because we can, our love can move a mountain, We can, if you believe in we, We can, just wrap your arms around me, We can, we can, Because we can".

Their Bon Jovi cover elicited the largest applause of the evening, only rivaled by all the hooting and hollering that the girls performance of "Lady Marmalade" received. The DJ asked them, "Do you guys practice before coming here?"

Finn laughed, "Actually no. I had no idea they were all going to join me, but I've been singing with Rachel for almost 4 years now, so we just fall into our parts naturally. I don't even truly understand how it happens, so it's probably Rachel orchestrating it somehow. She's a professional."

"Finn! I am not a professional yet. I didn't even get a callback for the chorus in The Glass Menagerie. And it's not just me. I can't perform with others the same way as I perform with you, even when we first started. I need considerable practice to perfect cues with other people. I think that we instinctively read each other, sometimes subconsciously, and it's our love that takes over and fuels our performance."

"Um, well that was incredible, especially since you claim that it was not practiced."

"Well, I might have sang it in the car with the radio a couple of times.", Finn admitted.

"And I've heard the song before, but haven't sung it before."

"Wow. Just wow. Oh! You two were in the McKinley glee club last year, weren't you? I knew you looked familiar!"

"Yes, McKinley class of 2012", Rachel responded, smiling.

"Show Choir National Champs.", Finn said proudly.

"Wow. I can see why you won. I hope you have a great night."

"Thank you", they both responded as they joined their friends again. The rest of the evening sped by, their group dominating the microphone for most of the night, to the point where they were having impromptu jam sessions, even when one of them chose a song as a solo. But for once, they weren't fighting over the solos, and were just enjoying making music together. It was getting late, but no one really wanted to leave and end their little reunion. They sang some of their favorite performance songs and some new songs. Artie hilariously parodied Mr. Schuester singing Ice Ice Baby, Mercedes joining him on the chorus, before she pulled Santana and Tina up with her to sing "Set Fire to the Rain". Quinn and Puck sang a song that Puck introduced as "A song that was popular when our teacher was in middle school, which was before we were born, but it's a great song for me and Q" (Mr. Big's "To Be With You"). The only song that really confused the group was when Rachel, Kurt, and Blaine sang "I Know Him So Well" from the musical Chess. But Rachel quickly explained to the slightly worried group that it was just a pretty song they all knew and didn't mean anything.

Soon, it was time for the last song, which Finn submitted. Kurt joked as they all climbed up to the stage, "So are we singing the original arrangement or the regionals arrangement, Finn?"

"We're not singing 'Don't Stop Believing"

"What are we singing then, dear brother?"

"Well, Rachel let me borrow her Beatles CDs a long time ago, and I still haven't returned them. Well I found one the other day, and I really liked this song. They pulled out some of John Lennon's demos that he was working on, and Paul, George, and Ringo fleshed out the rest and they had a digital reunion with him. I thought it was fitting to sing "Real Love" for our first full reunion of the original Glee club."

"That explains why I couldn't find the anthology. It's a good thing I have them on my ipod too. Good choice."

"I'll make sure I pack them for New York.", Finn said smiling, as their group sang the last number of the night before parting.


	10. All Night

"Hey, Blaine, do you want to come over tonight?" We're probably going to be up a little while longer before going to bed.", Kurt yelled across the parking lot.

Before Blaine could answer, Rachel hissed in Kurt's ear, "What are you doing? We have a plane to catch in the morning and we have to drive to Dayton to catch it!"

Kurt hissed back, "We can sleep on the plane, or in the car since Dad's driving us. I want one more night with Blaine."

Rachel softened her glare, "Oh, Okay. Are Burt and Carole going to mind him staying over?"

Kurt looked at her incredulously as Finn said, "Hey Rach, if they didn't mind you sleeping over, I don't think they'd mind Blaine. We're all adults now...even if Blaine is still in high school, he IS 18."

Blaine made his way over to them and said to Kurt quietly, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure that I want to spend a little more time with you before I have to go back home."

"Okay, then. Do you want me to meet you there or do you want to ride with me and let Finchel have some private car time."

"They kiss at every single stop light! Of course I want to ride with you!"

"See you there, Kurt", Finn said before closing the passenger door for Rachel.

Kurt and Blaine got into Blaine's car and almost as soon as they started driving, Kurt unloaded what he was thinking on Blaine, "Okay, so I want to be completely honest with you. I really want to make love to you tonight. Not just fuck you, like I did after the wedding. You made love to me - that I know. I can tell and I appreciate that. But I was angry and I let out that anger through some rough sex and I feel bad about that, even if you seemed to like it. I do still plan on dating other people when I go back to New York, even though my heart still belongs to you. I know this seems ridiculous, but I want to see what it's like to date around and when I get back together with you, I want to make sure that it's because I love you, and not because you were the first gay guy that I fell in love with. Oh god, that sounds awful too. I just need to do some exploring before I settle down, because I really do see that happening with you and I don't want to regret not having more of a typical college experience. It seemed to work for Finn and Rachel."

"Kurt, breathe. It's okay. I understand. And yes, making love to you sounds wonderful. I did like it a little rough, which surprised me too, but we can just fold that into our sexual repertoire. I'm sure we'll keep finding new ways to please each other as we grow. We're on the same page. I'm just happy that I get to spend time with you. It drives me crazy to not talk to you. Can we at least talk as friends after you go back."

"I'd like that. Now lets go inside and see what kind of privacy we will be able to procure tonight. We might have to be social a little bit first. It depends on who is still up."

"Does your dad hate me?"

"What? No! Remember he is the one that brought you to see me at Christmas! I think he was more invested in us getting back together then than even you were!"

"I just worry since I know he's protective of you."

"He knows how young relationships go. That's why he was part of the effort to stop Finn and Rachel from getting married last year - he was worried that they might grow apart or make a mistake like that once they were married, which would obviously be a lot harder to deal with. Now, we were all completely wrong about those two - since their engagement, the only mistakes they made were completely reactions to other people's meddling. And while being with Brody might have been a leveling of the playing field for them - after all, now Rachel has an inferior sexual partner to compare Finn to as well, that whole mess never would've happened if her fathers wouldn't have gotten into Finn's head. The rest of us were trying to convince him to take the leap and go to New York anyway and get a job there, once he saved up during the summer, but his self esteem was so tanked that Rachel's dads just hit the right nerve. Even my dad, who was against the whole wedding thing, was for him eventually moving there with us. So, he gets what happened with us, and he is not mad at you because of it. I was inadvertently pushing you away. Long distance is rough."

"Okay.", Blaine said as he pulled into the driveway behind Finn's truck.

"Well let's go in."

Finn and Rachel were on the couch snuggling, watching what looked like an old Friends episode on TV with Burt and Carole.

"Hey Kurt, we're watching Friends trying to figure out why Rachel's fathers would've named her Rachel. Wanna watch with us?", Finn said without turning around when he heard the door open.

"That is an interesting question.", Blaine noted, basically announcing his presence to the group, who were still watching as Ross and Rachel woke up to gawking children in the museum exhibit.

"Oh! Blaine's here too!", Rachel said excitedly.

"I just don't get why they would name me after Rachel. I mean did they want a daughter who went out and had sex in public places? Or who later got pregnant by her ex-boyfriend during a one-night-stand? Plus, Monica is the jewish one."

"Maybe they knew you would find your own Ross? You kinda did, I mean look at you and Finn. You're just like Ross and Rachel. On again-off again, but deeply in love and destined to be together.", Blaine offered.

"OK, yeah, we have that in common, but I am NOT like Ross.", Finn said indignantly. "I am NOT a dork."

Kurt tried not to laugh out loud, but a little muffled giggle bubbled out, before he added, "And Rachel wasn't the popular cheerleader, nor a slut, for most of high school."

"She's MUCH better than Rachel Green.", Blaine added quickly.

"Yes, she is.", Kurt conceded, "But that's not the point. We're not saying you two ARE Ross and Rachel. We're saying your relationship has similarities to theirs. Although you seemed to have figured it out much quicker."

"I'm not sure whether to be thankful that I didn't have to deal with 10 years of angst with you two or if I'm scared that you figured it out so quickly and so young.", Burt said, as Carole gave him a look and put her hand on his arm, warningly.

"But if we were picking which characters you were most like, it would definitely be Monica and Chandler.", Kurt said definitively.

Rachel sighed, "Yeah, my Type A personality definitely puts me in Monica territory, and they definitely love each other too, but Finn isn't really like any of the Friends characters."

Blaine suddenly fell off the other couch in a fit of laughter, "Oh god!"

"What on earth is so funny, Blaine?", Rachel asked.

"You didn't see him in the sweater vests! When he was running glee, he wore sweater vests a couple of times and well, I don't know if he was trying to be funny by mimicking Mr. Schue or what, but yeah, he's TOTALLY Chandler!"

"Okay, for one, yeah, I was trying to be funny with the sweater vests, but no one got the joke, so I stopped. But I'm not as awkward as Chandler and I didn't date anyone annoying before finding my true love."

"Oh, I think Quinn was PLENTY annoying and self centered. She even had a nasal quality to her voice. Not quite as grating as Janice, but yeah, she fits the bill.", Carole pointed out as Rachel just smiled at her, glad that Carole hated the two of them together as much as she did, even though she is now solidly friends with Quinn.

"Oh. Yeah. I kinda forgot about that. It's all sort of a blur before Rachel."

"And sweetie, while I love you - you do have a pretty bad track record for being insecure in your abilities, so I think we're losing the battle here. You're Chandler and I'm Monica."

"No, You're Rachel and I'm Finn and we're going to last a lot longer than a television series."

Rachel just smiled and cuddled closer to him again, conceding, "You got a point, honey."

They watched another episode together before Burt asked Blaine if his parents knew where he was.

"Uh, yes, they do. They know Kurt is leaving tomorrow, so they were fine with me staying over here, if that's okay with you."

Burt shrugged his shoulders, "Yeah, that's fine, you're 18 now, we're all adults. Although if any of you get loud tonight and I hear it, consider it game on.

Finn blushed beet red at the thought of a loudest sex competition with his mom, but Kurt just laughed and said, "Dad, I don't think it'll be much of a competition. You've heard Finn and Rachel sing together, right?"

"Yeah, what's your point? You sing too. You got some killer pipes. I'm sure Finn's singing voice was partially from his mom and you got some of yours from me too - I'm not tone deaf, you know."

At this point, Rachel's face was beet red and buried in Finn's chest, when he could do nothing other than stare at them dumbfounded that this conversation was even happening when Kurt made it even worse.

"Blaine and I have wonderful voices as well, and we love each other and share passion when we sing, but well, when these two sing, they have this thing where they resonate off each other and you can't help but feel the passion in the sound. That is intensified even more when they're doing it, because they're both vocally expressive as people. Blaine and I are not as inclined to be vocally expressive about everything and are just more reserved about sharing our um...climaxes. And considering that I've never heard you and Carole even after living here under the same roof for a few years, I'd be willing to bet that you're similar, or at least can constrain it."

"We can be quiet!", Rachel huffed out.

"Rachel, you get LOUDER when we try to be quiet.", Finn whispered, although everyone heard, which made Kurt snicker at them.

"FINN! Clearly you don't know how to whisper, either!"

Kurt and Blaine were practically in hysterics on the floor, trying to convey what they were laughing about while Burt and Carole just stared awkwardly as random words came out of Kurt and Blaine's mouths as they writhed around.

"Hall"

"Closet"

"I can't believe"

"Schue!"

"Scales my ass!"

"KURT! It is no one's business but ours what we do in private!"

Blaine finally gasped enough of a breath to let out a complete sentence, "I don't think the janitor's closet at school is considered 'private'".

"We were trying to be quiet. That's how we found out that Rachel gets louder when she tries to be quiet.", Finn mumbled, then perked up and added, "It's like she holds it in for a little bit but then it spills out even louder."

"You were caught by Mr. Schuester?", Carole asked, shaking her head. "This is why we just should've let you two have sleepovers. Clearly you were finding places to do it anyway. At least you wouldn't get expelled at home."

"But we didn't get expelled! And also, no, Mr. Schuester didn't catch us. Kurt helped us out and knocked on the door when he wasn't looking so we snuck out and across the hall to the choir room. He looked confused, but then Rachel started replicating the noises and when he asked what she was doing, she just said it was a new scale technique that she read about. When I'm a teacher, I hope I don't fall for that. But yeah, you totally should've let us have more sleepovers. We probably could've avoided a lot of close calls last year."

"FINN!"

"What? It's not like they don't know now. Although finding out that our first time was the same night as Kurt and Blaine's first time was a little weird."

Now it was Kurt's turn to yell, "FINN!"

"What? You can point out how loud we are and tell our parents that we had sex in the janitor's closet at school, but I can't point out that we all ended up having sex for the first time after the West Side Story opening?"

"Um, before we hear any more potentially scarring information, I think Burt and I are going to head up to bed."

"May the loudest couple win.", Burt joked.

"That would be us.", Finn said confidently as Rachel once again buried her face in his chest, "Hey, why are you hiding? I thought you liked winning! And I love that you let everyone in a 5 mile radius know how much you love me when we're making love. It's how I know I'm doing something right."

"Well at least you're sweet about it, Finn, though I wish you would've taken Rachel somewhere a little nicer than the closet. I raised you as a gentleman.", Carole admonished gently, knowing that he really did treat Rachel respectfully and with reverent love.

"She pulled ME in there!", he protested. "I was being a gentlemen by holding her up so she didn't fall into the dirty bucket!"

Carole just laughed and followed Burt up the stairs. "See you in the morning. Hopefully, it'll be less awkward then!"

"Oh god. Finn, only you could manage to make a conversation with your mom about sex sound like boasting locker room talk while at the same time being completely sweet and adorable."

"Okay, on that note, we're going upstairs too, before they start fornicating right here in front of us.", Kurt blurted out as he pulled Blaine to the stairs.

"Oh, please, like we'd do that in front of you. We're going upstairs too, Kurt.", Rachel pointed out, as Finn pulled her up from the couch.

"You seem to be forgetting that I walked in on you two having sex on that couch at least once, rounding third several times, and have been subjected to you making out nearly every time I've EVER approached the two of you together."

"Well, we never START anything in front of anyone."

"Kissing Finn the second I leave the room to pee still counts as starting things in front of people. It's not like you stop again until I come back!"

"Hey Blaine, can you please have sex with him? He's clearly jealous."

Blaine just winked at Finn, and pulled Kurt into his bedroom, still sputtering, "But. but."

"Hey Rach. I've missed you."

"I've been right here, Finn."

"I know, but I missed kissing you."

"Well then why are we talking?"

"BECAUSE YOU'RE STILL IN THE HALLWAY! GO TO FINN'S ROOM!"

Finn laughed, then picked Rachel up, kissed her and whispered, "brace yourself", just before pushing her against Kurt's door. She kept kissing him, while giggling as they heard Kurt ask Blaine, "Are they making out against my door? Come on. This is ridiculous. Oh dear, how am I going to live with them in our wall-less loft? It's going to be like this ALL the time."

"Kurt, I'm sure once they're actually living together and sharing a bed, they won't have as much urgency to make out all the time and it won't be so bad. I'm sure they'll still be super sweet to each other, which to single folks, will get annoying, but it will be okay. I think Carole had a point about them. If they were able to have sex on a regular basis without having to sneak around, and living together, they never would end up needing it so bad that they have a quickie in the janitors closet."

Then they heard another bang against the door and the sound of Finn and Rachel moaning together. Then another bang.

"Oh god, they're fucking against my door. Blaine! They're FUCKING against my door. That's it. I'm opening the door."

"Um do you really want -"

Blaine started laughing as Kurt opened the door and a completely clothed Finn and Rachel stumbled and almost fell through the doorway, Finn steadying himself just in time to keep them upright, her still in his arms.

"See, they weren't fucking."

"What the hell was the moaning all about then?"

"Finn's that good of a kisser. Was I actually moaning?"

"YES. And so was he.", Kurt pointed an accusatory finger at Finn.

"Rachel is incredibly sexy when she's kissing me."

"She is a really exceptional kisser, Kurt. I mean, she had me questioning my sexuality because she had me turned on and I didn't think girls could do that. I'm pretty sure Tina was disappointed when I didn't get hard during the vapo-rub incident."

"Vapo-RAPE, Blaine. You were asleep and didn't consent."

"Oh it was nothing - and I could breath better when I woke up, so she really just helped me without my consent."

"It wasn't nothing to her."

"We were broken up, Kurt, so you can't really be pissed about it. Anyway, my point was that, I don't blame Finn for moaning."

"Okay, this has ceased being amusing and I'm not being kissed or getting laid right now, so we are going across the hall now.", Finn said as he scooped up Rachel and carried her across the hall to his room.

Kurt watched them go across the hall and close the door to Finn's room before closing his door and sighing, "Well, at least they've made it to the bedroom".

Kurt didn't see that Burt and Carole were peeking out of their door watching the whole scene unfold. They really were planning on going to bed, but they heard Kurt yelling at Finn and Rachel about going into Finn's room and got curious. They peeked out of the door and saw Finn whisper to Rachel and then start making out against Kurt's door. It was then that Carole realized just how much tinier Rachel was than Finn. She always knew they had a huge size difference of course, but it never really occurred to her how that would play out with their physical interactions.

"Oh god, I hope he doesn't hurt her doing that.", Carole fretted quietly in Burt's ear.

"Didn't you see him whispering to her? She knew what he was going to do and braced herself. Plus, he totally took the brunt of it with his arms protecting her. Kurt's gonna flip out about what they're doing, but you gotta admit that it's kind of funny!"

"But she's so tiny and what if he does that when they're in the middle of a heated discussion or something. He wouldn't even mean to hurt her, but he could."

"He could, but while she's tiny, she's also strong and pretty solid. She has to dance for school and that's hard work. Carole, you've seen love in his eyes. She's the world to him, and he treats her like she's made of glass."

"Yeah, he is completely in love with her, and the feeling is mutual. I'm so happy they found their way back to each other. But he's so clumsy! What if he trips carrying her and drops her? If he falls on her, he'll crush her."

"Carole, look at him now. Does he look clumsy?", Burt asked, just as Kurt opened the door leaving them to stumble in.

Carole gasped, but then sighed in relief, "Oh good, he didn't fall on her."

"Yeah, he caught her. He will hurt himself before he hurts her."

"Yeah, now that you say that, I do see that Finn is actually less clumsy when he's in physical contact with Rachel. He can even dance with her with no problem! Remember watching them at Regionals? He moved so gracefully and confidently with her. I've never seen him able to dance like that when she wasn't his partner."

"That's probably why Schue always paired them up, even though heightwise, Rachel probably should've been dancing with Blaine or Kurt. Probably what he meant by 'Finn-proofing' the choreography"

"Wait, did Blaine just say that Rachel was a good kisser? How would he know?"

"Oh, that was a spin the bottle thing. Kurt was so upset because Blaine was questioning his sexuality after it. But it turns out he was just drunk for the first time. Rachel kissed him again so he could figure it out. It was when Finn and Rachel were broken up."

"Oh, wow. Glee is rather incestuous."

"Yep. Kurt's pretty good though. I think he's only kissed Brittany and Blaine."

"Brittany?"

"Long story - hey, they're going to bed, we should try to fall asleep before it gets too loud."

"Maybe they won't do it tonight. I don't really want to hear this. I don't have a problem with them doing it, but I don't really want to hear it."

"We'll turn on music."

"Alright."

Before Burt could turn on their stereo, the sound of Journey's Greatest Hits came wafting through the wall.

"Or they will turn on music for us all", Burt said as he heard Kurt yelling, "FINN CHRISTOPHER HUDSON, JOURNEY IS NOT GOING TO DROWN YOU TWO OUT!"

Burt just chuckled, "I'm glad Kurt finally has a sibling. This is kind of entertaining."

"They were probably like this whenever I had a night shift and you were gone in DC last year. Oh God! We had the teenage sex house! We were the absentee parents that created the environment where they could have sex whenever they wanted."

"I thought you were okay with Finn and Rachel having sex.", Burt said, amused by his wife's freakout.

"Well I am, but last year, they were still minors, well Finn for only half the year, but Rachel only turned 18 in December! She was still 16 when she lost her virginity to Finn."

"When then, they were both 16 when they lost their virginity. Wasn't Finn 16 when he slept with Santana?"

Carole sighed, "Yeah. He was. But he said that it was almost like it didn't count because he didn't feel anything and it was a huge mistake. Didn't you hear him say 'their first time', earlier? I think for him, that was his 'real' first time."

"We all make mistakes. Let's try to sleep, huh?"

"Yeah, well at least we all like Journey."

"I wonder if they're going to be louder because they made it to the bedroom and think that not as much sound will get out.", Blaine responded to Kurt's sigh.

"Oh dear, you're right."

"Well let's not think about Finn and Rachel right now. Let's just enjoy each other while we still can."

"Are you sure you don't want to go and kiss Rachel since she's so good at it."

"I don't love Rachel. Sure, she's a great kisser, but I love you."

"Am I an okay kisser?"

"Oh, I see what this is about. You and Rachel are really always going to be in competition, aren't you. I mean you're super close friends now, but there's always going to be friendly competition between the two of you."

"This isn't about Rachel and I being in competition. This is about me wanting to be good at pleasing you, which is clearly something she has done, or you wouldn't be so apt to say it."

"Kurt, You're an excellent kisser and I enjoy kissing you. You don't have to kiss like Rachel because you kiss like Kurt and I love the way you kiss. Speaking of which, can you please kiss me?"

"But we kiss differently?"

"Yes. Everyone kisses differently. Do I kiss like Brittany? Or Adam?"

"No, nor do you taste like lip smackers. But I think that's a good thing.", Kurt said, purposely not commenting on Adam, who was a fine kisser, but no Blaine. He was hoping that maybe with some practice, he would learn to do what Blaine does.

"So, see? Everyone is just different. If you're curious about how Rachel kisses differently from you, just ask her to show you or something."

"You want me to ask my brother's ex and future fiance to kiss me? Are you insane?"

"I don't think Finn would mind, because he knows he wouldn't lose her to you. It would just be educational if you're curious. I don't think you need kissing lessons though. You have you're own super high marks in that area. So again, would you PLEASE kiss me."

"But...why would Rachel want to do that?"

"Oh my god! KURT, JUST KISS ME. I SWEAR YOU'RE BETTER THAN RACHEL!"

Rachel stopped kissing Finn for a moment when she heard Blaine yelling, "Did he just say that Kurt was a better kisser than me?"

"Rachel, no one is a better kisser than you, I think he's probably just trying to get Kurt to kiss him. I mean he sounds kinda sexually frustrated if you ask me."

"But you have to say that, you're my boyfriend."

"Well, with that logic, wouldn't Blaine be wise to tell Kurt that he is the better kisser? But babe, seriously, you are the best kisser in the world. I would love kissing you regardless, because I love you, but I am the luckiest man on Earth that you are not only the woman that I love, but also the woman that I lust, and the woman that satisfies my every physical need, which includes being the best kisser on Earth. You heard me moaning earlier. That's all you, babe."

"I supposed, but what if Kurt IS a better kisser than me?"

"It's okay if he's the better kisser for Blaine. Unless you'd rather be kissing Blaine than me."

"Absolutely not. But what if I could improve my technique to become better than Kurt?"

"I don't think it's possible for you to get any better. You kiss perfectly. I love your kisses every single time. I don't know how they could possibly get any better than perfect."

"But I will have to kiss people on stage. What if Kurt is better at that than me?"

"Well I don't think you have to be. I mean, it's all acting, so if for some unfathomable reason, your acting partner didn't like how you kissed, it wouldn't matter because they just need to act like they do. Plus, I'd feel better if they didn't enjoy kissing you. I know you have to do it, and I'm fine with it, but maybe you could turn down your game when you kiss on stage."

"Well you know stage kisses don't usually involve tongue."

"Oh, was that special just for me then?"

"Our Nationals kiss wasn't really a stage kiss! It was us kissing, but displayed on a stage! And, you're distracting me from my dilemma. What if Kurt's really better? I have to find out!". Rachel hopped off the bed and headed straight to the door as Finn whined, "But Rach, come on, wouldn't you rather be making love to me rather than bugging Blaine and probably interrupting him and Kurt?"

"You and I will make love, once I ensure that I am giving you the very best kisses. And everyone is always interrupting us, so I don't feel so bad about that."

"Why won't you just believe me when I say that you already are?", Finn mumbled.

"Because you haven't kissed Kurt, so you don't know."

They were in the hallway now when Finn stopped dead and said quietly, "You can't be serious."

"What? How else would you know?"

"Rachel, I AM NOT KISSING KURT!", Finn exclaimed. "I am not kissing ANYONE BUT YOU!"

Kurt heard Finn in the hall, and as he was opening the door, admonished Blaine, "I TOLD you she'd hear you!"

"Uh, no offense Kurt, but I don't want to kiss you.", Finn sputtered out as the door to Burt and Carole's room opened and an amused Burt asked, "Um, why are you yelling about not kissing Kurt?"

"Aw FUCK! Burt, look, I'm not homophobic, I just don't want to kiss anyone but Rachel."

"Understandable, but why do you need to yell about it?"

"Because Rachel seems to think that I should."

"Blaine yelled that Kurt was a better kisser than me. Finn said that wasn't possible, but he's never kissed Kurt, so he isn't qualified to make that judgement. I just want to make sure that I'm the best I can be for Finn."

"Rachel, I love the way you kiss me, and I don't want you to change a thing."

"But what if you don't know that you'd want me to change. What if there's some way of kissing that you like that you just don't know about."

"I kissed every girl in school at that goddamned kissing booth. You are the absolute best kisser of them all. I doubt Kurt is better than you."

"Wait, so why was Blaine yelling about Kurt being a better kisser than Rachel?", Carole asked.

"Mom, he probably just wanted Kurt to kiss him!", Finn huffed, clearly exasperated, tired, and wanting to get Rachel back into bed with him.

"I'm sorry everyone. I said earlier that I didn't blame Finn for moaning when Rachel kissed him because she was a good kisser. Then Kurt took that comment to mean that he wasn't, and no amount of convincing him that I wanted to kiss him and not Rachel was working, so I just yelled that he was better out of exasperation."

"So, who is really better?", Kurt and Rachel said in unison.

Finn rolled his eyes, "always the competition with these two. First it was over solos in Glee, then Kurt was making Rachel look like a sad clown hooker so I wouldn't be attracted to her, and now it's over who is the better kisser. Look, you're both awesome people and good friends now. Why does this matter?"

No one answered Finn, but Blaine replied, "They're very different kissers. It's not that one is better, they're both just different. I suggested to Kurt that he ask for permission to kiss Rachel so that he could see what I meant. They could learn from each other."

"And I said that was crazy. I don't want to kiss my most-likely-future-sister-in-law."

"Oh, but doesn't that stuff happen all the time at diva night? I thought kissing for practice was normal at sleepovers. You can kiss Rachel if she gives you permission. It's like her stage kissing, only I guess this would include tongue because it's practice for well, me on her end."

"Wait, so I have to kiss Kurt, but you don't? How is that fair?"

"Why does no one want to kiss me?"

"I do, but you were more concerned about whether you were a better kisser than Rachel than actually kissing me!", Blaine pointed out, clearly exasperated.

"Burt? Carole? Since we apparently have outside perspective, what do you think we should do?"

Burt got an evil smile on his face as he laughed out, "Why don't you boys have Kurt and Rachel both kiss Puck and Santana tomorrow and let them jointly decide? And then if they say one is better than the other, then Kurt and Rachel could kiss and figure out what the better of the two of them does."

Surprisingly, Finn was the one to say, "Okay, that's fine. So tonight can Kurt and Rachel return to their respective kissing partners?"

"I don't want to kiss PUCK or Santana! FINN!"

"Well it's either that or you just have to concede that you and Kurt are equally talented kissers, although different, as per Blaine's estimation."

"That is preferable. Though I still think you should kiss Kurt, so that you have a healthy comparison."

"Urgh. Rach."

Kurt saw the look on Finn's face change and panicked, "You're not actually considering it. Finn...", he said warningly.

"How bad could it be? It's not like we're related by blood. Plus, you used to have a crush on me, I'd think you'd be less wary of kissing me."

"I'm more worried about Rachel killing me when she realizes that she doesn't want to actually see it, even though she told you to."

"I lived through watching him and Quinn kiss in the halls for a few months. I can handle this little experiment. It's like spin the bottle."

"Are you really gonna do this with your parents watching?", Blaine asked.

"We'll we've sort of kept them up with all the yelling. It's up to them if they want the show or not."

"This has got to be the strangest thing in the world, but yet I can't stop watching. It's like a train wreck.", Burt answered.

"We've seen Finn and Rachel kiss nearly everywhere, so yeah, not as weird as you might think.", Carole added.

"Alright then, come on Kurt, kiss me so I can take Rachel back to bed already."

"This better be a real kiss too. No being tentative. Just go for it."

"Kurt kurt kurt kurt", Blaine quietly chanted.

"Well if it wasn't weird already, now it officially is.", Kurt rolled his eyes before saying, "What the hell" and then launching his face at Finn and kissing him solidly.

Finn ended the kiss after a few seconds, and said, "Thanks Kurt. You're a great kisser, but I prefer Rachel. I see what Blaine was talking about with you two being very different. Both awesome, but different."

Rachel seemed satisfied by that, and took his hand to lead him back to bed, turning back to say, "Good night everyone!"

They retreated to Finn's room and the second the door was closed, Finn immediately went into the bathroom to grab his toothbrush, while Rachel whispered, "so, should I practice kissing with Kurt to learn his technique?"

"What?! NO! Do you not see me trying to frantically brush my teeth here? It was watery and slimey and while his lips were nice and soft like yours, he alternated between too much pressure and not enough and there was like too much air or something. Rachel, you are definitely the better kisser, it was no contest. I just didn't want to get in an argument out there!"

"Maybe Kurt needs practice. I'll have to talk to Blaine to see if my services are needed. He can't do well at NYADA if he can't kiss properly."

"Oh Rachel, I don't want to subject you to that. It was awful.", he emphasized with a whisper, "And not because he was a dude, because that part of it didn't really occur to me in the moment. It was just bad kissing."

Rachel giggled, "Well I guess Kurt and Blaine don't get as much practice as we do, or did, or now currently do. We kiss in public all the time and they barely hold hands. Probably because Lima is so conservative."

Finn finished brushing his teeth and sighed in relief. Then, he turned to Rachel and picked her up, saying, "I don't wanna talk about kissing Kurt anymore. In fact I can't believe you made me do that. I might have to punish you."

"Well that's only fair.", Rachel said seductively. "Just don't whip me too hard."

"No. No whip. But...", Finn set Rachel down gently on his bed and started rummaging through a drawer in his dresser, and came back with four of his ties hidden behind his back. Rachel tried to crane her neck around to see what he had behind his back, but he knelt on the bed in between her legs and dropped the ties behind him. He leaned down and kissed her gently, caressing her face, and then stroking down her neck to her arm, until her hand was engulfed with his. He stopped kissing her to gently kiss her hand before easing her arm above her head, then held her hand there for a second while he kissed her lips firmly again, her free arm running through his short, but growing hair as her legs wrapped around his waist. Once she was distracted by his insistent kissing, he grabbed one of the ties and managed to secure her wrist to the rungs on his headboard. Once her arms were comfortably secured above her head, Finn started tantalizingly kissing down her arm, moving his way slowly across her shoulder, and up her neck, where he paused to whisper softly in her ear, "Do you trust me? Is this okay?", before rising up to look into her eyes. She was trembling with anticipation, and with soft wide eyes filled with desire, she nodded slowly at him.

He lowered himself onto her and kissed her softly and deeply until she moaned softly, kissing him back equally. As their love making increased, Rachel did get louder and louder.

After a little while, there was a bang on the door and Kurt speaking loudly, "Finn, whatever you're doing to make her do that, stop it!"

He answered truthfully, "I'm just talking to her, Kurt".

"You know that you're doing more than talking.", Rachel hissed loudly, leading to Kurt responding, "I don't even want to know." before rushing away.

Then, with no warning, Finn resumed his ministrations, leading to an almost deafening scream, followed by a soft moan, and the echo of Kurt in the hallway stating the obvious, "That was not caused by talking Finn. You're not that good, Cassanova." before the sound of a door being shut.

"Okay, you've had your fun. Untie me and let's continue this, NOW!", Rachel demanded.

"Oh?"

"I'd like the use of my limbs, please."

"Yeah, um. I don't think so, Rach.", Finn teased her before making love to her once again.

"Don't you like when I touch you?", Rachel panted out as Finn picked up his rhythm.

"Sure. But this is fun too. I can get you wound up so easy, and as lame as this sounds, I get turned on by the fact that you trust me enough to do this. Now just enjoy not having to do any of the work."

"Oh god, Finn."

"See you like it. I'm being gentle enough.", he pointed out as he slowed his pace a little, drawing out the sensations for her.

"I...mmmm...Finn, this is great, but you have me tied up. You should really be having your way with me and just fuck my brains out. I mean show me just how hard you can go."

"Rach, I'm twice your size. I could hurt you if I go as hard as I can."

"Well just fuck me as hard as you think I can take and I'll tell you if you're going hard enough. You didn't gag me, silly."

At the sound of that, Finn hardened even more and twitched, which made Rachel giggle, "See, Finn Jr. wants to fuck me hard. Let him have some fun, stud."

Finn was done talking, he didn't even know what to say, but he did want to give her what she wanted, so he started up again.

They were both drenched in sweat, their hearts beating rapidly, but Finn kept clinging to Rachel, repeating, "I love you" over and over again, until Rachel interrupted him, "Finn, are you okay?"

"Are you sure I didn't hurt you? I mean that was so amazing, and I know you said you wanted it hard and at the end, I sort of just let loose on you, and you seem fine and seemed like you really liked it, and it was really super hot, but I was really really hard on you."

Rachel smiled at him, and reassured him, "Oh Finn, look at me. I'm in one piece and recovering from an amazing orgasm. I loved that you finally let go and didn't hold back. I wouldn't have been able to orgasm if you were hurting me. But sweetie?"

"Yes, oh god, I'll do anything you need."

"Can you untie me now? I'd kinda like to cuddle."

Finn looked at her with wide eyes when he realized that he hadn't done that yet and quickly untied all the knots. After he settled down next to her, she wrapped her arms around him and snuggled to his side, her right hand fingers making circles on his chest as she sighed happily, smiling. Finn was just about to fall asleep, enjoying the little circles that she was drawing on his chest, when he suddenly felt Rachel sit up and before he could ask her what was wrong, he felt her on him once again and moaned.

That moan was answered by Kurt yelling, "OH COME ON! ROUND TWO? RACHEL, STOP WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO HIM RIGHT THIS INSTANT.", followed by a faint chuckle that sounded distinctly like Burt.

Finn's response to Kurt (and subsequently, Burt) was to start pleasuring Rachel, which led to her letting out a completely wordless squeal of pleasure, bringing yet another shout from Kurt, and the sound of Burt knocking on his door and then grumbling, "Did you know that it was your yelling rather that their round 2 that woke me up? This whole sibling rivalry thing is rather amusing, but come on, Kurt, you're just egging them on with the yelling. Let them finish up and maybe they'll pass out before round 3."

Blaine, who looked sleepy and disheveled, came to the door then too, and responded, "Burt's right. Come here, I'll distract you until round two is over."

Burt chuckled and stumbled back to his own bedroom as Finn and Rachel were letting out their final moans of pleasure. He opened the door and said to Carole, who was looking a little traumatized, "well at least round two was shorter."

"I've never heard Rachel swear before."

"HA...Yeah, I have a feeling that your son is the only one that normally gets to hear that, since he is", Burt used air quotes, "a fucking sex god".

Carole blushed, "well, we know they're happy. I guess that's all that matters. They're making up for lost time and she did go without a single orgasm from May until now. That's a long time to go without out once you know what it's like."

"I'd like to know what Finn was doing to her, because I'd love to get you going like that."

"Oh god."

Burt chuckled again, "Maybe I'll ask him in the morning. The look on his face will be priceless, I'm sure."

"Why can't my kid be quiet like your kid?"

"Carole, I know it's gotta be weird hearing your kid errr, experience that kind of pleasure, not to mention hearing the sounds that he elicited out of his girlfriend, but at least you know that he's happy and fulfilled. While I have no desire to hear Kurt and Blaine going at it, I worry sometimes that he is so reserved about it. I know it's probably because Lima is so conservative when it comes to homosexuality, but I hope someday he'll be driving Finn and Rachel out of the loft with his sex noise."

"Finn would probably just cheer him on and Rachel would be critiquing his tone quality and breath control."

"Those two are a pair, aren't they?"

"Yeah, they are.", Carole yawned.

"Let's go to sleep before there is any more moaning or yelling."

"Good idea! I'm kind of going to miss it all when they all leave tomorrow."

"Me too, Carole. Me too. Goodnight.", Burt said, before giving her a hug and a kiss goodnight.


	11. Leaving on a Jet Plane

It was early and Burt was walking down the hall banging on Finn's door, then Kurt's door, yelling "Rise and shine, kids. I know you were up all night messing around, but you have a plane to catch. And Rachel, you might want to use some of that fallapio magic to get Finn up and in a good mood."

Kurt, who had woken up with an alarm minutes before Burt's wakeup call, opened his door and responded, "Fallapio? Do you mean fellatio? Are you seriously telling her to give him a blow job right now?"

Finn opened his door, his hair glistening with beads of water, and a towel around his waist, and said with a big smile, "Rachel was one step ahead of you. She'll be out of the shower in a minute. We'll be down for breakfast as soon as we're dressed. Oh, should she give me another blow job since you just asked her to?"

"NO! Oh god please, no.", Kurt responded quickly, as Burt chuckled.

"Hey Rach, Burt just told you to give me another blow job.", Finn said as he walked into the bathroom.

"What?", Rachel laughed, as she slipped on her panties.

"He actually called it 'fallapio magic'"

"You mean fellatio.", she said, licking her lips unconsciously as she clasped her bra.

"Oh god you look hot saying that. But, I know the word. HE called it fallapio.", Finn pointed out, watching as Rachel pulled a cotton dress over her head before reaching for some leggings.

"That's a little bit hilarious."

"Well…?"

"Aren't you hungry, Finn?"

Finn sighed, "Yeah. Alright."

"Hey, if you're good, maybe we'll join the mile high club." Rachel said, winking as she opened the door.

Burt stopped at Santana's house to pick her up before driving them all to Dayton to catch their flight.

When she opened the back door to climb in, she laughed at the sight of everyone's tired eyes, and asked, "Well, there's no need to ask what you were all up to last night after karaoke. How long did they go at it for?"

Burt piped up, "Well, the last yelling I heard was Kurt telling Rachel to stop whatever she was doing. That was around 2 am."

"They were going for round 2! There were like 2 blissful minutes when they were quiet and then it started up again with an 'Oh God, Rachel'"

Santana laughed again, "Nice recovery time, Finny-D"

"Uh, Thanks?"

Burt laughed, and thought that this was his chance to find out how he could up his game. He had no complaints in the sex department, but he really wanted to knock Carole's socks off. So he started with teasing, "Well, Santana, I heard last night that Finn was a sex god."

"Oh my god, am I REALLY that loud and articulate when we're making love?", Rachel asked.

"YES!", Burt, Kurt, and Santana all responded at once as they passed the city limits of Lima.

"Well, Finn is an exceptional lover. I stand by my in the moment assessment that he was a 'sex god'", she countered, using air quotes.

"I was actually thinking I needed to get some tips, if Rachel's vocals were any indication."

Finn put his head in his hands and started repeating, "My mom doesn't have sex, my mom doesn't have sex, ew ew ew ew ew"

Rachel rubbed his back gently and said, "Finn, your mother heard us go at it for two rounds, at least I don't think she heard round 3. Plus, you boasted about our loudness last night to her, and you're shutting down because Burt wants to use your expertise to make her happy? I know it might be difficult to think of our parents being sexual, but it's only natural, like you've pointed out to her about us. So come on, sit up and enjoy that everyone knows how awesome you are at pleasing me."

Finn smiled big, "Yeah, Rach, you always know what to say. I'm going to embrace my sex god status."

"And now we're going to have to deal with over-confident Finn, because his sexual prowess is being discussed positively.", Kurt lamented as Finn just shrugged and smiled before saying simply, "Well, I know what Rachel likes and I just go with that. We talk a lot about trying new things, and well you all hear us, so you know we're communicating when we're liking something. It's not like it's hard."

Rachel giggled at Finn's words before sputtering out, "Oh, it was hard. But I liked it."

Kurt blushed until he was nearly purple and Santana poked Kurt before complimenting Rachel for a change, "Well done, Hudson-Berry, I always knew you had it in you to be a bit kinky. Also, I'm liking this shade of purple that Lady Hummel is sporting. And three rounds, that's impressive!"

"Hudson-Berry?", Burt inquired.

"Well, I was speaking to both of them. I suppose I could've used Finchel, but I don't really call them Finn and Rachel ever, so combining their last names made more sense."

"And we're both adding each other's lasts names when we get married, so we'll both be Hudson-Berry's.", Rachel said proudly.

"When you get married? When did that happen? Haven't you just been back together for like 3 days?", Kurt said, beating Burt to the punch while Santana just looked surprised that she stumbled on a real thing.

"Yes, when we get married.", Finn responded, "Although I need to propose again, and we'll need to set a date. It's not happening tomorrow, but it's going to happen."

"And you're changing your name, Finn?", Burt asked.

"Yeah, I'm not a misogynist. And I'm excited about the little hudsonberries that will run around", he said proudly.

"I'm not pregnant! We just discussed that we'd both like children in the future, once we have careers and financial stability.", Rachel said quickly.

"Oh thank god.", Burt said. "No need to rush, just enjoy each other for now."

"That's the plan, but for some reason, Finn got super excited when I commented that our decision to take each others names and combine them would give our kids a hyphenated last name, and-"

"And he wanted to give us all a heart attack, including my father, who already had one!", Kurt finished.

"Hey, I just love kids and I was just excited to hear that Rachel thought about having them too - And kids PLURAL at that. She's always been excited about being a star on Broadway, and I just thought she wouldn't want kids, because they'd take away from that. So, yeah, I'm excited that I get to have Rachel, who is more than enough for me, but that she's also going to make my dreams of having kids come true too. I kind of love her even more, and I didn't think that was possible."

"Oh, enough, you're giving me a cavity!", Santana whined, as Finn and Rachel started kissing and snuggling even closer to each other.

"Finn, where is your seat on the plane?", Kurt asked, trying to change the subject.

"Next to Rachel"

"No, I'm next to Rachel, and you're going to be bugging me to switch, aren't you?"

"No. I looked at Rachel's itinerary when I booked and the seat on her other side, which was also conveniently an aisle seat for these long legs, was available, so I took it."

"Hahaha, you are going to have to deal with Finchel sex the whole flight to New York.", Santana teased.

"Aren't you just across the aisle? Furthermore, I witnessed Rachel subconsciously touching herself on the way here, so I just figured I would be similarly traumatized on the way back, but somehow having the real Finn is probably going to be even worse."

Burt almost swerved the car at that admission while Rachel flushed scarlet and Finn raised an eyebrow at her.

"I murph rv bee dring ab too", Rachel murmured into Finn's chest.

Santana was giddy and practically bouncing as she translated to Finn, "I believe she might have just admitted to having sexy daydreams about you that were so realistic that she was getting herself off in an airplane. Wow. Donkey-face really must've been awful in bed if you were fondling yourself dreaming about your ex on an airplane."

"Santana, please stop talking. If not for my dignity, for Burt's sake. And yeah, Plastic McDonkey-Face was awful. I couldn't even imagine Finn instead because it was that bad."

"She called him Donkey Face! KURT! This is the best day ever!", Santana said gleefully, bouncing in her seat.

Finn ignored Santana and spoke quietly to Rachel, "Were you really thinking about me on the way here?"

Rachel sighed, "Of course. It started off with me being nervous about seeing you and feeling guilty about my sham of a relationship, but then it veered off into making love to you after dancing all night at the wedding, and I apparently embarrassed myself. But I was quiet." She glared at Kurt when she pointed that out.

Finn smiled and his chest puffed out a little as his pride kicked in and Rachel couldn't help but roll her eyes and say, "Yep, I embarrass myself and you get proud of yourself for your ability to make me horny."

"Rachel Berry just said, 'HORNY'. I swear I am enjoying this so much!", Santana said happily, "But I don't envy those mattress store patrons you're going to traumatize later today. No one is going to want to buy any of them after watching you two try them out."

Rachel rolled her eyes, "We can control ourselves, you know. We've managed to perform and not make out on stage several times and you know how much that turns me on."

"Oh, is that control why I caught you riding Finn on a piano bench in one of those tiny soundproof practice rooms backstage at Nationals in Chicago?", Santana asked.

"Is THAT why you were so flushed when you came to your seats?", Kurt asked, a hint of incredulity in his voice.

"Oh Hummel, what else would you think caused it? Everyone knew they were fucking!"

"They had SOUNDPROOF ROOMS! How could we not utilize one?", Finn pointed out.

Rachel just shook her head, "Burt, I am so sorry that everyone always likes talking about Finn and my sex life. We just really love each other and well, we had to seize opportunities when we could get them. We were usually trying to avoid making anyone uncomfortable though."

"Without you?", Santana said as Kurt pointed out, "Making out against my door last night?"

"Rachel said 'usually'. Sometimes we just don't care and get caught up in our Finchelness and other times, we're just trying to mess around with Kurt."

"That was hilarious by the way.", Burt noted, "Your mom was worried you were going to hurt Rachel, either by not knowing your own strength or being a klutz and falling on her."

"You were both watching? I'm not sure what to say to that, other than I'm super careful with Rachel. I would hate to hurt her"

"Yeah, I pointed that out to your mom. Plus I remember the agony you were in when you accidently broke her nose. He cried like a baby every night until you were healed, Rachel."

"Burt!"

"What, I thought it was sweet and that Rachel would like to know."

"Rachel did know! Rachel knows everything! You just told Santana."

"Oh Finnocence, I would expect nothing less. We all know you're way emo."

"Okay kids, we're almost to Dayton, but I wanted to ask you about your plans with this Brody guy."

"Well Satan here told him that he was moving out, supervised by one of us. We actually land before he does, and I'm going to get the locks changed first thing, before he even touches down. I already have the locksmith scheduled and told him how many keys we need. As that's happening, the love birds will be out bed shopping while Santana and I start boxing up his stuff. Puck should get there just before Brody and his job is to provide security and make Brody help him move Rachel's bed and create a new partition for our "guest area". We're hoping by the time Finn and Rachel get back with their mattress delivery that Brody will at least have some stuff out and a place to crash.", Kurt explained.

"I still have proof that he is selling sex illegally, so I don't think he'll be a problem.", Santana added.

"But, just in case, Puck and I are pretty much going to be not letting Rachel or Santana out of our sight while we're there, at least until all his shit is out of the loft."

"Language, Finn"

"Hey, I'm from Lima Heights Adjacent! I can handle myself."

"Alright, it sounds like you've got it figured out, but if it gets out of hand, please contact the authorities. I don't want any of you hurt and I really don't want to have to come to New York to bail you or more likely Puckerman out of jail, because you handled it yourself."

"Yeah, Rachel doesn't condone violence, but Puck insisted that it's his job to lay the smack down if he needs to." Rachel beamed at Finn, proud that he was acting like an adult about all of this, rather than tearing Brody down in a jealous rage.

"And so the journey begins…", Kurt said as they entered the airport.

They all got settled in their seats on the airplane, where Finn and Rachel already put the armrest up and were snuggling together. Just as they were going to start kissing, both Kurt and Santana, who was across the aisle, started groaning.

"This is going to be a long flight.", Santana said.

"Nah, they were up late, they'll pass out soon, if not from exhaustion, from lack of oxygen."

"I never understood that statement. I mean, do people really not just breath through their noses while kissing, or take a quick catch breath when mouths separate for an instant? I mean kisses are not just open mouthed tongue swirling. There is that, but its also about mixing that up with a few closures and pecks.", Rachel couldn't help but add to the conversation.

"Yeah, I only stop when my mouth gets sore, and that can take a while because I have lots of practice kissing Rachel for a long time."

"Well, Kurt, at least they stopped kissing, but now they're lecturing us on how they breathe when they're kissing."

"Well Kurt seemed to think that breathing was difficult while kissing.", Rachel pointed out.

"I could see Kurt thinking that."

"Um, what?!", Santana exclaimed.

Rachel giggled, "I'm surprised you're so open about that Finn."

"Open about what, exactly? This is going to be good, I can tell."

"Damn it. Okay, Rachel somehow convinced Kurt to kiss me and convinced me to let him kiss me to settle who was the better kisser. Damned Blaine for pointing out what a good kisser Rachel is."

Santana doubled over in hysterical laughter, catching her breath only to spit out, "So?"

"Rachel. Hands Down. No offense Kurt."

"None taken."

"And what did Kurt think?"

"Oh my goodness, I didn't even think to ask that last night! Isn't Finn a wonderful kisser?", Rachel gushed.

Kurt blushed a dusky rose before murmuring, "I don't want to talk about it."

"Oh Lady Hummel LIKED him some frankentongue", Santana teased.

Finn raised an eyebrow and shook his head in confusion.

"Fine! Yes, Finn is an exceptional kisser, and I wasn't prepared for that. Rachel is a very lucky woman. I can kind of see why she's always attached to him by the mouth. But, thankfully for everyone here, Blaine is the best kisser I've ever kissed."

There was a moment of silence, where no one had anything to say, but then Santana broke it, succeeding in making everyone uncomfortable. "Well, but Rachel and Kurt haven't kissed each other. How is that fair?"

"Well, having Rachel and Kurt kiss wouldn't have solved the debate, since it was to see which of them was the better kisser. Besides Blaine and I didn't kiss either, and I don't want to kiss anyone else!", Finn pointed out, trying to spare Rachel the slimey experience.

"If I kiss Kurt, can we drop this? Finn, is that okay? I just want to get back to kissing you."

"What if I don't want Kurt cooties?"

"It's a little late for that, Finnocence."

"Fine, go ahead, Rach, so we can drop this." Then Finn whispered, "maybe wait until the beverage cart comes by though". Rachel giggled, but then just dove in, catching Kurt completely off guard, but he responded earnestly once he got his bearings, surprising himself.

Rachel cut off the kiss, leaving Kurt dumbfounded. She quickly snuggled up to Finn and whispering, "it wasn't that bad, but you're much better".

Santana noticed the look on Kurt's face and decided to tease him some more, "You okay over there Kurt?"

Finn and Rachel looked over to him and noticed that he was staring straight ahead and trying not to panic.

"Oh no. Was I bad at it, Kurt?"

Kurt shook his head from side to side slowly, still afraid to speak, and confused beyond belief that both his step-brother AND best friend/future sister-in-law had managed to give him a hard on through kissing alone. Rachel even had him questioning his sexuality, wondering if he was bisexual.

"Rach, I think you might have led Kurt to an existential crisis with your awesome kissing."

"You know what existential means?", an incredulous Santana asked.

"Rachel rubs off on you", Finn pointed out.

"Oh I'm sure she does. I think Kurt would like her rubbing one off for him right now."

"I'm gay", Kurt pointed out, but the uncertainty in his voice was telling.

"Sure you are, muffin", Santana soothed fakely.

"I'm not sure what to say right now. I would've expected this reaction from a kiss with Finn. I mean I don't know how I didn't jump straight into bed with him immediately after kissing him the first time."

"Well, that was a mutual feeling that was only prevented by me running away after a failed mailman moment."

"I thought you said you were just nervous."

"I WAS, I was nervous that I had just embarrassed myself by creaming my pants when all you had done was kiss me. Not to mention the feelings."

Rachel responded by kissing him.

Kurt was still nearly comatose, trying to make sense of it all and calm his raging boner, which was still not calming down, especially now since the objects of his desire were kissing and he had visions of them in pornographic situations in his head.

Santana decided that she needed to put a stop to the Finchel kissing by mentioning, "I might have to kiss Berry. Sounds like my girl has some magic in those lips."

"Not just Rachel", Kurt blurted out as Finn responded, "Hands off my girlfriend, Santana." before looking at Kurt, surprised again.

Kurt tried to recover from his unfortunate slip by changing Santana's focus to Rachel.

"Actually, that's was my dad's suggestion for solving the question of whether Rachel or I was the better kisser. He said that you and Puck should each get kissed by us, and that you two should be the deciders."

"I like that idea. Wait. Burt watched you kiss Finn?"

"Carole too.", Rachel pointed out.

"What kind of crazy family are you people from?"

"None of this would've happened had you two not decided to make out against my door!"

"Yeah, that's not helping my assertion that your family is nuts."

"Uh, I guess we have some good open communication with our parents?", Finn suggested as a reason.

"I guess.", Santana acquiesced, "But now you both have Kurt all hot and bothered, and super confused and by the looks of Kurt right now, it seems that I'm really missing out by not kissing Rachel."

"Santana, I'm not kissing you on the airplane.", Rachel said matter-of-factly.

"But soon?", Santana purred.

"Maybe.", Finn answered, "If you're good."

Their conversation fizzled out and soon, they were all dozing in their seats. After a half hour nap, Rachel woke up, and when she saw that Kurt and Santana were also asleep, she kissed Finn's ear and whispered, "wanna join the mile high club, Finn?".

Finn's eyes popped open instantly, and turned toward the back of the plane. He saw that the flight attendants were busy getting the drink carts ready, so he figured it was a good time, since they would be distracted, and leaving the galley very soon.

"Wait two minutes and then meet me in the bathroom on the right."

Rachel giggled and nodded as Finn got up to head to the back of the plane, with a big telling smile on his face.

Two minutes later, she calmly walked to the back of the plane. When she moved to open the door to the restroom, a flight attendant interrupted her, informing her that a gentleman just stepped in there.

Rachel replied, thankful that Finn had thought to leave the door unlocked, "Oh, well he must be gone already, the door is unlocked." She smiled sweetly at the attendant and slipped through the door gracefully, which was difficult, given that Finn's broad shoulders took up most of the tiny room. Once she secured the door, she reached on tip toes to kiss Finn passionately. Their actions quickly escalated. When they finished, Finn gently pulled Rachel off of him and set her down, whispering in her ear with a sexy growl, "Good job being quiet. That face you made was really hot." He kissed her again as he zipped himself back in, and soothed the mark she had made on her lip with his tongue. "You go out first baby. I'll follow in a couple of minutes".

She smiled at him and walked down the aisle of the plane in a happy, dreamy state. Rachel slipped back to her seat and was thankful that Santana and Kurt were both still asleep. However, as she was sneaking her panties and leggings back on, she accidentally nudged Kurt's knee with her elbow and he woke up with a start. His eyes widened when he saw that she was pulling her leggings back on, and exclaimed, "Rachel, why in the hell are you putting on your leggings right now, in a seat on an airplane and where in the hell is Finn?"

Santana woke up then, and raised an eyebrow as Rachel answered Kurt innocently, "I'm just fixing them. They got bunchy, and I think Finn went to the restroom."

Finn approached their seats as Santana countered, "No, you two just totally got it on in the airplane restroom. I just don't know how it didn't wake me up, but I can smell sex on you from here."

She looked up at Finn's wide grin and rolled her eyes, then looked at Rachel again and said, "Look at him. Are you really going to deny it that you just had sex?"

Rachel looked at Finn, who was clearly not at all trying to hide it and obviously thrilled to have just been initiated into the mile high club, and blushed, "Alright, fine, yes we had sex. On the plane. In the bathroom. And it was awesome and we found out that I can indeed be quiet if I have to."

"Yeah, but it looks like you hurt yourself doing it,", Finn said, "Your poor lip is purple.", before sitting down and kissing her again.

"I have a whole new respect for you two, because that bathroom is tiny, and Finn is the clumsiest person I know, so I have no idea how you pulled that off without making a crap ton of noise banging around or falling out through the door."

Finn and Rachel just ignored her and continued to stare into each others eyes, but Kurt responded, "Apparently, sex with Rachel is the one arena in which Finn is not hopelessly clumsy."

"Hey! I managed to play football well too. It's only dancing that's difficult! And Rachel had two orgasms. I am not clumsy at sex"

"TWO?!", Kurt and Santana replied in unison.

"I'm not even sure we can say you're a bad dancer anymore though - you were perfecting some very complicated moves for all our competitions last year.", Rachel pointed out.

"I worked my ass off to get better!"

"And Mr. Schue found one particularly good way of 'Finn-proofing' the choreography. Didn't you notice that even when you two weren't together, that you were dance partners or somehow within sight of each other, even though it sometimes looked ridiculous because there's over a foot height difference between you two?"

"It was a little weird when we weren't together, but I figured it was because we were co-captains and our voices were often harmonizing.", Rachel pointed out.

"Nope, it was because Finn didn't screw up the choreography as much with you. He actually looked 10 times more graceful with you than with anyone else. Brittany would've been the obvious choice for a dance partner, because she was tall and thus more proportional to him, AND a great dancer who should've been able to back lead, but every time Schue tried it with a new number in practice, it was hopeless. He put Finn with you and he could magically do the moves. Even when he was dating Quinn and she was shooting daggers at him the whole time, he danced better with you."

"Huh. I never noticed that. I just thought Schue put Frankenteen with the dwarf because she begged him to."

"I only did that a couple of times! And that was in the early part of sophomore year! Although, yeah, heightwise, a more traditional pairing would've been me with Kurt, or senior year, Blaine. But for some reason Kurt was always with Quinn or Mercedes sophomore year", Rachel protested.

"Okay, I'm bored, I thought we were talking about you two having sex on an airplane. I approve by the way. I'm impressed that you managed to pull it off without getting caught. I think you both earned a couple of cool points today, even though you're both still rather dorky.", Santana told them.

"Also, never try to deny you've had sex, Finn. You're terrible at it.", she added.

"Why would I ever want to deny having sex with Rachel? I love her and she's awesome at it."

"But you did all the work this time!"

"Yeah, but you do that thing where you squeeze me inside you and that is so awesome….", Finn trailed off before Kurt put his hands over his ears yelling, "Ahhhhgh! I don't want to know such details!"

Santana merely laughed, "Good work Berry."

Soon their plane was landing and they were heading to the loft to drop off their luggage.

As they put their bags down in Rachel's section of the loft, Finn whispered, "So, do you think we have time for a quickie before mattress shopping?"

"Finn, we're not having sex on this mattress"

"What about the piano rug?"

"You have to be quick. I don't want to be here when Brody gets here."

"Yay!" Finn cheered, opening his suitcase to find the piano rug.

"Great, it's starting already.", Kurt grumbled as Santana yelled, "Bite your lip some more, Berry!"

Finn found the piano rug and laid it down carefully, then stripped down quickly, grabbed Rachel and pulled her down hard on top of him.

They made love on the rug, trying hard to be quiet, but in the end failed as they climaxed.

"That sounded hot you two.", Santana said cheerily as Kurt hissed, "Don't encourage them!"

"Why not? It's the middle of the day, if I encourage them now, they'll be worn out by the time I want to sleep."

Kurt just shook his head and yelled, "Go buy a mattress!"

Finn and Rachel smiled at each other and got dressed quickly, then walked out as Rachel answered Kurt, "We're going. Text when Puck gets here. And don't let Brody take my stuff!"

"We have you covered, Rachel. Don't get a mattress that squeaks, though. Maybe a pillow top would help muffle you.", Kurt quipped.

Finn and Rachel left, hearing Santana say to Kurt, "You ready to box up Donkey Face's shit?"

"I've never been so happy to do manual labor. I am so glad that he is leaving and that Rachel and Finn have each other again. I'd never tell them that, because then they'd probably have even less respect for those around them when they're messing around, but I really do feel that everything is finally falling into place."

"Yeah, even I admit that they're both more tolerable when they're together than apart. But I want to know how it's going to work given that you have thing for both of them. I saw your face. There was pure panic in it."

"My step-brother and future step-sister-in-law both managed to excite me within hours of each other. And watching them kiss and hearing them go at it does all sorts of crazy stuff to me now. I am totally freaking out! I love both of them, platonically, and now I have sexual feelings toward both of them, which is really unfortunate, because they are really meant for each other, so there is nothing I will do to mess that up again."

"Do they turn you on more than Blaine?"

"It's about equal."

"And Adam?"

"That's the part that's most unfortunate. I want this semester to be about moving on and seeing other people. Trying dating, not necessarily sleeping around, but dating. And the one guy who I was interested in, unfortunately doesn't hold a candle to the three of them."

"Would it help if I told you that I wanted in on their sex too?"

"Even after you know what sex is like with Finn?"

"Well, Finn was awkward, but he was not half as bad as I made him sound, and it was his first time and he wasn't into me. And god, the guy is hung like a horse, which even a lesbian can appreciate. But Rachel is who I can't get out of my head. She doesn't even realize how hot she is now. I guess she always was, but only Finn could see it, with his fetish for animal sweaters, plaid skirts and knee highs. And when she started asking about polyamory after my little post-wedding rendezvous, I couldn't help but think that maybe there is a chance for others to jump on the Finchel train."

There was a knock at the door. Santana answered it and was surprised to see not only the locksmith, but also Puck.

Kurt came to the door too and gave the locksmith directions and then said, "Welcome to the loft, Puck. It's the place where everyone is in love with both Finn and Rachel."

"Well then I guess I'm in the right place.", Puck responded.

Both Santana and Kurt's jaws dropped, but Santana recovered first, "Are you serious?"

"Why do you think I'm here? Finn's my boy and I would do anything to protect Rachel. I love her."

"I thought you loved Quinn."

"I love all of them. Pretty equally, which is a bit confusing."

"Oh god.", Kurt murmured. "You're bisexual?"

"Not really."

"What he means is that he has a thing for Finn, but not necessarily other dudes.", Santana guessed.

"Yeah, sort of.", Puck admitted, not mentioning that it wasn't only Finn, but that it was still very selective, unlike his heterosexual sex drive.

"Well, this is going to be interesting with all three of us wanting them when they only have eyes for each other."

They looked at each other and Puck said, "I'm not going to get in their way. I can handle my desire, and I just want to help get the douchebag out of here and make sure that Rachel is safe."

"Well, lets get to work then." Kurt pointed out, heading to Rachel's partition.


	12. Golden Slumbers

The locksmith handed Kurt five shiny new keys and left. Kurt made sure to put the keys in a hidden spot in his room, thinking that it was safer in case Brody tried to snag one of the keys off their key rings while moving out. When he returned to Rachel's room, Puck and Santana looked guilty, but they had a few boxes filled with clothing that was obviously Brody's, so they were actually working.

"Oh no, what did you two do?", Kurt responded to their guilt.

"We. Um. Found a few things that we probably shouldn't have.", Puck answered him with his head down in shame.

Kurt sighed, "Well that was bound to happen given that you were purposely going through Rachel's stuff to get Brody's out. Though, if Rachel had something to hide, I would've assumed that she would've made an effort to put them somewhere secure, like her locked trunk. But she was a little busy with Finn for the brief time they were here."

"They've already done it in here? Damn.", Puck asked.

"From what we heard, on that rug you're sitting on. And if we're counting, that's #3 for both of them.", Santana added.

Pucked looked down, "Oh." He paused, "Wait. Three? Really? Weren't you all up early and then at an airport and then on an airplane? Damn they're good." He was genuinely impressed and a little jealous.

"Rachel apparently used fellatio as an effective tool to wake Finn up, then they joined the mile high club, where Finn claims to have gotten Rachel off twice, and then they had a quickie here. I don't even want to know what tonight is going to be like with a new mattress and all.", Kurt spurted out, so that Puck was on the same page. He then got back to their task and asked, "So, what did you find?"

"The anal beads had to be Brody's. I mean he did some kinky shit as a prostitute.", Santana thought out loud.

Kurt stared at her in disbelief, "Well, where did you find them?"

"In with Brody's socks.", Puck admitted.

"Then why would you think they were Rachel's?"

"We didn't!", Santana insisted, "We were just traumatized because they were in that douchebag's ass."

"Oh. I just thought you looked guilty."

"That was because we found Rachel's engagement ring."

"And I offered to swipe it for our favorite giant.", Puck added.

"Why were you in her jewelry box?"

"It looked like a place to stash condoms, and I wanted to clear out the smalls to make room for condoms that would actually fit Frankenweenie."

Kurt rolled his eyes, "You two actually care in your own odd ways. I'm impressed. Anyway, Brody will be here any minute if our calculations are correct, so we should make sure that anything of value is well out of his reach. Santana, can you take her jewelry boxes to your room and stash them somewhere secure, especially the one with the ring in it?"

"Sure", Santana said, taking the boxes with her as she left the room.

"Puck, did you actually find any condoms or any other sex paraphernalia that might have been actually used between them?"

"I already packed the teeny weenie raincoats. They must not have done it much - there was practically a whole box left. There weren't any other sex toys that he would've been involved with.", Puck told Kurt, leaving out how he found Rachel's hot pink vibrator under the mattress and stashed it in her underwear drawer, so it wouldn't fall out when they moved the bed.

Kurt steeled himself, not wanting to react to the condom comment for Rachel's sake, "Alright, then let's get these sheets off, so that the bed is ready to move when he gets here."

Puck and Kurt had just finished stripping the bed, and Kurt was about to head to the laundry room with them when they heard Brody pounding on the door and yelling, "You already locked me out? I didn't even move out yet!"

Puck answered the door and yelled right back, "Stop shouting dude, you think we were going to let you have free access to this place so you can harass Rachel or trash their stuff? We already started packing up your shit, hope you got a place to stay tonight, cuz you're not staying here."

"Puck, let's be civil. Look Brody, we're just taking precautions. We thought we knew you, but were blindsided by your being a part of an illegal sex ring, so how would we really know how you would react to being asked to move out?", Kurt disclosed, trying to be diplomatic, since he would definitely need to see the guy at school in the future.

"Besides, Plastic Ken Doll, we care an awful lot about Rachel, and she's teeny tiny, and we just can't help but protect her, so we will make sure that if you don't get everything out today, one of us will be here to let you in to pack and move. But you don't get more than a week. After that, anything you left here is garbage. Oh, and we got a head start on your packing and found your beads.", Santana said flippantly as Brody's eyes widened.

Brody recovered from his initial brief shock and retorted, "How do you know they're not Rachel's?"

"Brody, first, they were blue and Rachel would've bought pink ones if she was so inclined, and second, you don't honestly think that we don't know where Rachel keeps her stash of sex toys, do you?", Puck stated matter-of-factly. "I know her. And while I've never had the pleasure of making her call out my name, I sure as hell know where her hiding places are."

Kurt raised an eyebrow at Puck, but otherwise stayed quiet. Brody threw up his hands in defeat and walked to Rachel's room, surveying what they had already packed. Puck perched himself upon the unmade bed and watch him carefully as he gathered clothing and books from various places around the room. Meanwhile, Kurt was pushing aside the privacy partition, so they could take the bed out. Soon, Brody's belongings from Rachel's room were boxed up. He decided to take a few of the boxes down to the suv he had borrowed, and then continue gathering his things from the rest of the loft.

As Brody was loading a box into back of the SUV, Finn and Rachel approached the building hand in hand, not seeing him behind the large vehicle. Rachel headed straight to the laundry area to wash the new bedclothes, and Finn went up to the loft. When Kurt answered the door for him, Finn asked how things were going.

"Pretty calm actually.", Kurt said.

"Although you and Rachel being here might change things.", Puck added.

"We're just going to lay low. Is he done getting his stuff out of Rachel's room? If he is, we are just going to start reorganizing in there and will stay out of his way."

"Our new mattress should be here in an hour.", Rachel added, stepping through the door, a little winded from racing up the stairs, "I can't wait to sleep in it! I already put the new sheets and blankets in the washer!"

"I bet that's not all you can't wait to do on it.", Santana scoffed.

Not wanting to get into another discussion of their sex life, Kurt ignored Santana and focused on logistics. "Are you using the same frame or are you getting a new one?", Kurt asked.

"Well since the mattress is extra long, and it's difficult to find a frame for a bed of that size, Finn is going to build a custom frame for it this week.", Rachel said, beaming.

"Dude, are you gonna buy power tools?", Puck perked up.

"Finn is able to build things? Do we need to set up a workshop area too? We're going to need more partitions!", Kurt sighed.

"We can make more partitions! And yeah, Puck, we can go buy them and the lumber tomorrow. Kurt, I took shop. I can figure out how to make a bed frame. I bet I can even do some crazy pinterest shit to it too.", Finn said confidently. "In fact, I think we're going to make one of those pillowy headboards and built in shelves on the sides."

"Wow, you know what pinterest is, I'm impressed, Finn.", Kurt commented.

Santana noticed Rachel mooning over Finn's display of masculinity and couldn't help snorting, "And it looks like Rachel is turned on by the thought of Carpenter Finn."

Brody walked in as Santana was talking and scoffed, "Oh please, like anything he does is sexy."

Rachel burst with rage as Brody insulted Finn, and instantly launched herself at him to attack, completely surprising Finn and Puck, who reacted just quick enough to catch her in midair before her foot connected with Brody's manhood.

"Whoa, my girlfriend is a ninja.", Finn commented as Puck held her back, as she struggled to connect punches and kicks with Brody's sensitive areas.

Puck was having a hard time containing her, and broke Finn's reverie, "Hey, Finn, can you help me with your ninja princess over here?" Finn came over and scooped Rachel from his arms, and reminded her, "Hey Rach, I thought you were going to leave the violence to Puck, and only if it was necessary?".

Puck was chuckling as he said it, but Rachel's face fell, knowing that her actions were hypocritical, and settled comfortably in Finn's arms, responding with a quiet, "you're right.". Then she quickly hopped down and stood, Finn's arms still around her, and addressed Brody in a much louder and stronger voice, "I will not tolerate anyone insulting Finn. He is incredibly sexy in so many varied ways, and you know what Brody? You might be somewhat nice to look at, but you're useless in bed. I mean, for a sex worker, you're not very good at it."

Santana, Puck, and Finn had their mouths open in surprise, while Kurt was trying not to laugh.

Brody countered, "Well you certainly weren't complaining when we were together."

"I'm an exceptional actress, Brody. And frankly I was surprised that you couldn't even tell that I was faking an orgasm. Not bad for a NYADA freshman from Ohio, huh?" Brody looked mortified, but Rachel continued, "It was wonderful practice for sex scenes. So, next time you're thinking of saying that Finn isn't sexy, think about the fact that I've already had three amazing orgasms from Finn TODAY, and you've never given me one in months of dating."

Santana gasped, surprised by Rachel's honesty, and also turned on by her strong verbal lashing.

"You're lying. I'm great in bed.", Brody fought back.

Rachel simply stated, "Maybe for someone else, but not for me. You're not Finn. I never should've given you the chance you had, Brody. For that I am sorry. But my heart was always Finn's. I was trying to take the advice to move on, and live my life here, but it didn't work. And I didn't want it to work. If you got hurt, I am sorry, even if you don't entirely deserve the sentiment given that you lied about your profession to me, and weren't fully committed yourself, but this is the way things are now. I am Finn's, forever. Please finish packing. Finn and I will be in my room and will leave you be."

Finn and Rachel retreated as Kurt let out a low breath of relief that that altercation was over. He then smiled, thinking about how strong Rachel seemed.

Finn and Rachel were busy reorganizing Rachel's things, making room for the things that Finn would be bringing and picking up the items that got tossed around a bit in the search for Brody's things, when Rachel thought about her hiding spot and found herself looking across the apartment to the very small, not yet sectioned off guest area next to Santana's room. Puck, who was busy putting new sheets on the bed, saw her panicked face and pointed to the dresser and winked. Relief showed on her face and she mouthed, "Thank you" to him for saving her further embarrassment. She then looked at Finn, who was trying to restack some of her books, and mentioned, "You know, this mess isn't even half as bad as the mess Santana left when she moved in and went through all of my stuff and Kurt's stuff."

"She just went through your stuff and made a mess?"

"She claimed it was a thing that she did. Apparently roommates have no secrets in her world. And then she said that she approved of 75% of my underwear. I'm pretty sure she was searching for something against Brody though, rather than just being the disruptive force that is Santana."

"Well I think all your underwear is hot. But that sounds like quite the compliment from Santana. And while her Mexican third eye thing is creepy, I'm glad she was looking out for you."

"Me too, though with this Brody mess, I feel a lot safer with you and Puck here. I am confident in my self defense moves, but even with my best moves, I am small, and it's nice to have a strong virile boyfriend here to protect me, so I don't have to use them."

"Rach, I will do anything in my power to keep you safe. Always. I just wish I could stay longer."

"I know, but you will be here soon, and in the meantime, I have Santana and her hair blades."

"And I think I'd like for Puck to stick around longer too - just until we're sure that Brody is going to back off. He can work on his writing here if you guys don't mind him staying."

"We'll just have to chat with Kurt and Santana, but I think they'd be fine with that."

Brody was just finishing packing his things from the bathroom, under Kurt's supervision.

"Well, Kurt, I think that's all the essentials for now. I will need to come back at some point to get the rest of my books and some other things that are around, but I have to go and get my friend's truck back and meet him so I can crash at his place."

"We are glad that you have a place to stay. Rachel did say that she didn't want you homeless. Granted she wasn't aware that you were sleeping with half the city when she said that, but I think you should know that she did care about you a little bit."

"Yeah, well if that bitch didn't throw me under the bus, maybe things would've been different."

"Brody, Santana only did what you were too much of a coward to do. Rachel deserved to know the truth. And she was going to end things anyway. You know that, right? I mean look at them." Kurt pointed to Finn and Rachel, who were smiling and talking while moving things around, effortlessly moving around each other and obviously perfectly in sync. "There is no competing with that. And that isn't the result of knowing each other for 4 years - they were like that from the day they met."

"Urgh, fine. Well how do I get back in for the rest of my stuff?"

"Call me or Puck and one of us will be here. Please just leave Rachel alone."

"Yeah, whatever.", Brody responded as the buzzer sounded and Rachel couldn't help but squeal,

"That's the new mattress! Finn, I'm so excited! It's the first piece of furniture we bought together and our first joint credit card!"

Finn whispered, "You are so cute and I'm just as excited as you are, but Brody is still here".

Brody glared at Finn, but said, "Don't bother subduing her excitement, I was just leaving."

Rachel's face fell, but she recovered and happily directed the delivery guy and directed him to their room as Brody left for the day.

A few minutes later a massive mattress and boxspring were headed up the stairs and as the delivery guys squeezed through the doorway, Santana couldn't help but comment, "Holy crap Frankenteen, that bed is huge, even for you. We could all fit in it!"

Kurt and Puck gaped at her, wondering what she was trying to do with that comment, when Rachel snapped back, "Well, we wanted to have room to move a little, that's all."

"Says the girl who got off twice in the airplane toilet.", Puck laughed, trying to lighten the mood and get the conversation off of orgies.

"Who told you that, Noah?"

"Chill Berry, it came out when I was teasing him about sitting on the piano rug that you two were bumping uglies on earlier. Besides, no secrets between roomies, and Puck is a sort of roomie now."

"I'm glad you said that Santana, because I was kind of hoping that Puck could stay with you guys for a while. I'm still a little worried about Brody starting crap when I leave in a week.", Finn told them.

"So, Santana is already calling me a roomie, and Finn is asking if I can stay here, but no one thought to actually ask me?", Puck laughed, "You do know that I could have plans, right?"

"Well, of course, but if you were crashing in my dorm to write, I don't see how you couldn't crash here instead. I mean you would get to play the hero if Brody messed with any of them.", Finn pointed out.

"I was joking dude. You know I got your back and I will totally protect our little Jewish princess."

"Yeah, I suppose I'm fine with that too.", Kurt added. "And if he decides to stay more permanently and get a paying job, there's plenty of room and that would make rent lower too."

Puck raised his eyebrows at Kurt, but otherwise let the comment go.

"Thanks man, I feel a lot better now.", Finn said, giving Puck a fist bump.

"Enjoy your new bed.", one of the delivery men said to no one in particular before Rachel ushered them out the door, thanking them for their services.

"I'm going to go make the bed! The drier should be done by now.", Rachel exclaimed. "You guys should start talking about what we should do for dinner."

Kurt started rattling off the different take-out places available as they needed to go grocery shopping after being gone for a few days, and they were all tired from their travels and rearranging. Finn's mind started to wander as the rest of them debated pizza versus chinese food. He couldn't help but think how perfect these mundane little moments were and how excited he was to be moving in with Rachel. His happy thoughts were in stark contrast to the discontent he experienced the last time he was in the loft with Kurt and Rachel. He felt overwhelmed then, and while he wanted to be with Rachel even then, he just wasn't ready for the leap to New York. He pondered this and instantly, he was hit with an odd sense of gratitude that Rachel's fathers had essentially forced them to prove their love would beat the odds. The separation sucked, but he felt like an equal in the relationship again, which was what he needed to truly be able to feel worthy of her. He knew that Hiram and Leroy's methods were wrong both for exacerbating his feelings of inadequacy and for not trusting Rachel's judgement, and that they deserved every ounce of Rachel's anger, but he wondered if they would've been as solid now if they hadn't needed to overcome the challenge of that heart wrenching time apart. It also occurred to him that he was supposed to be in the middle of a discussion, but his thoughts instead shifted to a daydream about proposing to Rachel once again, this time in a much more elaborate way, in Central Park, with a song, with flowers and preferably an epic engagement party to immediately follow. He was imagining her face as he was singing when he was interrupted by the sound of Puck snapping fingers in his face, obnoxiously calling out, "Finn? Earth to Finn. Dude, where was your head? Did you fall asleep?"

"I don't think I fell asleep, but if I did, that was one awesome dream.", Finn said, dreamily. Rachel, who came in carrying a basket at that moment just smiled knowingly. It was really nice to see him happy again, and she recognized his happy daydream face.

"I don't think I want to know about that.", Puck chortled, "But dude, what's your vote? Pizza or chinese?"

"Pizza, or whatever Rachel wants, because both are great."

"I would love some pizza. That's my vote. Kurt knows my order and I'm pretty sure I still have money in the take out jar."

"Got it, Rach. Go make your bed, I know you can't wait.", Kurt laughed at her practically bouncing to her room.

While the rest of them figured out what toppings to get on the non-vegan pizzas, Rachel got to work making the bed, admiring the scene in their living area as she worked, smiling because this was how she envisioned living in New York. It was finally happening the way it was supposed to. She never would've guessed that her and Santana of all people would be happily living together, or even friends, and Puck was never part of her New York plan, but somehow it all just fit together. The only missing piece was Blaine, but he was where he needed to be this year too. She finished with the bed and couldn't resist climbing in, just to try it out. She had planned on calling Finn to join her, but it only took a minute of her ensconced with comfortable blankets to fall into a deep slumber.

When the pepperoni and peppers versus sausage and onions debate was over and Kurt was busy calling in their order, Finn realized that Rachel hadn't came back from her room yet and was wondering what she was up to. Slipping away as Santana and Puck randomly flirted, he entered her room, and smiled when he saw her tiny sleeping body in the exact center of the gigantic bed. He kicked off his shoes quickly and crawled in carefully next to her, engulfed her with his arms, and easily fell asleep himself.

In the living room, flirting had turned into arguing. Puck was frustrated and confused by Santana and blurted out, "I thought you were a lesbian, why are you flirting with me? And with Finn right here too!"

Kurt walked in from the kitchen and quipped, "Um it seems that Finn might have slipped out under your radar, Puck."

Puck wheeled around and noticed that indeed, Finn had left the room, "What the fuck? Hasn't he gotten laid enough today?"

Santana ventured a glance into Rachel's room and when she saw no movement, walked closer, peeking in on the sleeping couple, "Apparently all that sex tired them out. They're napping.", she said softly. Then, taking a step back to the others, who had peeked in too, she got an evil grin on her face, before joking, "You know, I could use a nap too. What about you Puckerman? Kurt? Wanna join them in there? The looks on their faces will be priceless when they wake up."

"You are evil, and no, I'm not going to hop into bed with them without permission! I mean, yeah, Rachel and I do share a bed on diva nights and when she's feeling depressed, which was every night the first month I was here, but I'm not doing this."

"Suit yourself, but I'm going in there. I think you're just afraid that Rachel is going to give you a boner."

Kurt sputtered indignantly, "I happen to just respect them. And I don't think that would happen. Aw crap."

"Oh Porcelain, you're really messed up about a girl turning you on. Look, you like Rachel. She's already your friend and you love her platonically, right?"

"Yes, I often said she was like my fraternal twin."

"Well, I get the weirdness factor, then, because even if she's not your blood relative, it's weird to want someone you call your sister. But that aside, you already love her, and she's beautiful and hot, and apparently one hell of a kisser, so it's not that surprising that even as an otherwise gay man, that you'd want to do more than just kiss her again. It's like her kissing just nudged you a couple of notches down the Kinsey scale."

"That makes sense, but I'm still not showing up in their bed unannounced."

"Well now that that's settled, dibs on Rachel's side.", Puck blurted before cutting in front of Santana and tiptoeing in quietly.

"We're both going on Rachel's side, dumbass, Finn is taking up his side! Now get in quietly and start spooning me."

He grumbled but did as he was told, knowing that their little joke might not be taken as well if he was directly spooning Rachel and Santana was spooning Finn. Kurt walked away, feeling jealous, but grateful that he was able to resist, despite his feelings.

A half hour later, the buzzer signaling their pizza delivery woke Rachel up first. She heard Kurt answer the door, and snuggled closer, whispering, "mmmm...Finn, I love what you're doing to my boob, but it's time to get up. I just heard Kurt get the pizza."

"Rach, no, don't stop."

"Don't stop what?"

"How you're squeezing my ass. I really like that. Wait? Your boob? I'm not touching your boob.", Finn said, slightly more awake.

"Finn, my hands are on your chest; I'm not touching your butt.", Rachel said, panicking and opening her eyes wide when she traced the hand that was on her boob to Santana, asleep beside her. Finn was doing the same, veritably jumping out of bed when he realized that the hand belonged to Puck.

"What the hell? PUCK!? Santana? Get the hell out of our bed!"

Rachel was in shock, speechless even, when Puck and Santana sat up groggily.

Santana was first to speak, "You both looked so comfy, so we decided to join you."

"What is wrong with your bed? You two could've had a cuddly nap of your own in your own bed. This is our bed.", Finn demanded.

"Well I said earlier that we'd all fit, and look I was right. Kurt would've fit in here too, but he didn't want to join us."

"Point proven. Now get the hell out! I feel violated. Puck was groping my ass! And you were doing something apparently awesome to Rachel's boob. And while I should've been paying attention to learn something, I think I remember telling you to keep your hands off my girlfriend."

"I told you it was a bad idea, Santana!", Kurt called into them, "But you should all make up and get out here before the pizza gets cold!"

"See, Kurt told us to make out, so let's go.", Santana said, grabbing a shell shocked Rachel.

"He said make up, not make out.", Rachel said pushing Santana an arms length away from her.

"Isn't that the same thing?"

"NO! Besides, no offense, but I only want to make out with Finn.", Rachel said quietly, not fully believing what she was saying, and confused by the fact that she actually enjoyed Santana grabbing her boob, and that it didn't feel as weird to wake up with a whole bed full as she would've thought. As her mind reeled, she thought that had to be just a physical thing because she really did think it was Finn doing it at the time. She tried to convince herself that surely she wouldn't have felt the same if she would've known that it was Santana, right? Her brain was going into further into overdrive when Finn reached for her hand, and quietly said, "You okay, Rach?".

"Yeah, I'm okay, let's get some food. I'm just a little confused, that's all."

"Me too", Finn admitted, "We can talk about it after filling our bellies full of pizza."

As they walked over to the table to grab pizza, Kurt was quietly hissing at Santana and Puck, "Are you two insane? What the hell are you trying to do? Let them be Finchel. I thought you weren't going to get in the way, huh, Puck?"

"I didn't know I reached for his ass, Kurt. I was asleep."

"Which is why you should've known better than to go to sleep with them with your feelings. Either of you. You're playing a really dangerous game, and one where you two are going to end up being heartbroken."

Finn heard Kurt's tone, but not his words, and just said, "Don't worry about it, Kurt. We're fine. We can take a joke. It could've been worse."

"Alright, I will lay off. We should have a roomie meeting though, since it's apparent that we need some ground rules. Plus, I need to give you all your keys. I didn't earlier, because I didn't want Brody to swipe one. I thought it was better to leave the old keys on your rings when he was here today and if he swiped one, we'd know and he wouldn't be able to get in."

"Good thinking, Kurt. When he comes again, we should be careful about where our keys are. I know the key hooks are super convenient, but maybe when he comes by, we should swipe our keys off it and hide them", Rachel added, before settling onto the couch next to Finn.

Everyone nodded in agreement. Then Finn spoke tentatively.

"So, how do we go about setting ground rules, Kurt?"

"Well, we just talk really and then agree on the rules. What did you have in mind? Other than staying out of each others' beds unless invited, that is."

"Well, I don't want Rachel alone in the apartment yet. I really don't trust Brody, and while Ninja-Rach is all sorts of awesome, I just think that the buddy system is best now. It won't be a problem this week, since I don't really plan on leaving her side unless she's in class, but…"

"Finn, I can tell by Rachel's mortified look that she's not entirely on board with that, but I think it's a great idea. Luckily, we have a similar class schedule, so we're normally on campus together. And when I'm interning, Santana is normally around. And with Puck here, I'm sure he can be around when Rachel is."

"Can we set a rule that if Rachel comes home and finds herself alone that she calls one of us? Well, not me when I'm in Lima, but you know, so she's not alone?"

"Finn, it'll be okay. You'll all smother me and the Brody thing will blow over. I don't think he's that upset over losing me. I mean he was sleeping with other people while we were together, I don't think that's an indication of how much he loved me."

"That's somewhat true, but Rachel, you weren't really putting out much, and he's a guy. And even good guys have urges.", Santana pointed out.

Rachel turned to Santana, who had just plopped down next to her with a second slice of pizza, and rolled her eyes, but didn't argue the point. Finn couldn't help defending her honor though, "Yeah, but then he could've just jerked off. That's what a good guy does when he has urges and the person he loves isn't available or isn't ready. Instead he used sex as a business and that's just not okay even if Rachel wasn't putting out. Actually I'm kind of happy that she wasn't putting out for him."

"Okay, let's not discuss how much Finnocence has spanked the monkey when Rachel was in her prude phase or in the past few months. Are there any more rules that I have to follow? So far not leaving Rachel alone sounds pretty easy.", Puck added, stuffing another slice of pizza into his mouth.

"Hey!", Rachel protested, while Santana shook her head at Rachel. "Well I'd like to set a ground rule that no one but Finn and I is allowed in our bed without being invited. Group napping and groping is just unacceptable!"

Kurt responded glaring at Puck and Santana, "I think that should've been an obvious rule, but yes, I agree. Also, no having sex in my bed!", he added looking pointedly at Finn and Rachel, as Puck and Santana laughed hysterically remembering that particular evening.

"In our defense, we thought that we were drinking sparkling juice. I didn't know that Puck had switched to real champagne once we moved the Nationals party to our house! So I was I was busy kissing Rachel, but she was walking backward and unintentionally drunk, so I think she just turned the wrong way into your room, thinking it was my room and well I wasn't completely sober and was really only thinking about getting laid, so I just went where she pulled me, even though I was not as drunk as her. It didn't even occur to me that we were in your room until you screeched at us."

"We weren't in your bed? I thought Kurt was just mad because we were making noise.", Rachel commented, a bit embarrassed that she didn't remember that detail.

"No, you most definitely were NOT in Finn's bed. You were both completely naked and sweaty and loud and clearly enjoying yourselves rolling around and gyrating and generally making a mess of my bed with the door completely wide open. And you probably used one of my condoms."

"Wow, you really must've been drunk to not have registered that. Kurt's yelling was MUCH louder than you two were being."

"Wait, a mess? Do you mean Rachel is a squirter? I wouldn't be surprised"

"Oh dear, I really don't want to know.", Kurt panicked. "I just meant that they had been writhing around on my comforter and making it sweaty. I wasn't paying close attention to the exchange of bodily fluids at the time."

"I used the condom in my wallet, Kurt. If I had been searching for condoms I probably would've realized that we were in your room and not mine, but I really just saw Rachel and a soft surface.", Finn responded to Kurt's initial accusation, purposely ignoring Puck's question.

"That night was entirely too fuzzy. Also, I am NEVER accepting a glass of any liquid from Puck ever again."

"I wish I had gone upstairs to tell you two to keep it down. That must've been some sight to see."

"Shut up, Puck!", Finn and Rachel yelled in unison.

"Alright, so Kurt's bed is off limits for sex, and we've been reprimanded for napping in the Finchel bed, is Santana's up for grabs?", Puck joked.

"Puck, you have a bed to use here, if you need to have a girl over, have sex with her there.", Rachel pointed out, exasperated that they even had to set such ground rules about staying in their own beds, even though her and Finn were at fault that one time.

"Oh alright.", Puck said, rolling his eyes.

"And no spiking anyone's drinks. If you want us to drink with you, ask.", Rachel added.

"Can we make animal sweaters banned?", Santana asked.

"NO!", Finn and Puck yelled as Rachel responded, "Have I worn one since you moved in?"

Everyone turned to look at Finn and Puck with raised eyebrows.

"What?", Finn asked, "It's no secret that I like the short skirts and the bright colors and the knee socks and the animal sweaters. I like the new look too, well all but those weird shorts, but Rachel's still allowed to wear them if she wants to. Besides, you shouldn't dictate what someone else wears, unless it's an actual fashion show or something."

"Oh weird fetish man, we're not surprised by your protest. It's little old Puckasaurus here that we are a bit confused by.", Santana drawled, amused that Puck made himself vulnerable.

"Uh."

"Yeah, Puck, why are you coming to my defense? I thought you said once that you couldn't tell how hot I was underneath my ridiculous outfits."

"That was not me. That was Santana who said that. I just called you sneaky hot, and well I like you sneaky hot, rather than overtly hot, because then it's easier to keep boys off of you."

After a pause and some more starring, he continued, "For my boy Finn. Makes my job easier is all."

"Did you just call my girlfriend hot?"

"No kicking chairs in the loft!", Kurt blurted out, trying to deflect. "That's another ground rule."

"Finn, whether I'm frumpy, or sneaky hot, or actually hot, I'm still only yours, so let them look. I'm going to be in the public eye someday. You're going to have to get used to other people finding me somewhat attractive."

"I have no problem with other people seeing how beautiful or sexy you are. I don't know how you could possibly hide it, and you definitely shouldn't. You're right, I'm over-reacting. I just got you back, so I'm just a little edgy."

Rachel curled up even tighter in Finn's arms, and stroked his hand, reassuring him. She was about to reach her head up to kiss him when Kurt interrupted them.

"Rachel, stop what you're doing. I have one more rule. There are a lot of people living here and we literally have paper-thin walls. Seriously - some of the partitions are made of paper! While you can't normally see through them, you can hear through them. I get that you two are going to have sex here. All I ask is that we have a no loud noises, sexually produced or otherwise, between approximately 11 and 6 on weekdays and between 2am and 9am on weekends. I'd also appreciate if the sex noises were kept to a minimum when other people are around, but we all know that might be asking too much."

"Maybe we should just have an 'if you can hear it, you're allowed to watch it' rule.", Puck suggested.

Santana giggled, "I'm surprised you didn't suggest 'if you can hear it, you can join in' as a rule."

"Why does everyone want to join us or watch us? We're not a porno!"

"I bet we'd make a great pornographic film."

"Rachel! That's not helping! But yeah, you're totally right, we have awesome sex. I bet it looks awesome too", Finn said, flashing Rachel his lopsided smile as he hugged her tight again.

"You definitely had some interesting positions.", Kurt pointed out before blushing bright pink.

"Oh Kurtsie DID pay attention.", Santana teased.

"Shut it, Satan!"

"What were you doing in there?", Puck asked.

"I don't know. We were drunk when Kurt saw us. We probably weren't doing anything crazy that time."

"Oh, like that was the only time I saw you two in a compromising position!"

"How often did this happen?", Santana pondered.

"Far too often. There was one week where it was literally every day. I would come home and get an eyeful. I'm fairly certain that every surface of that house has been compromised."

"That's so not true! We never did it on Burt and Carole's bed!", Rachel pointed out.

"Oh, well at least one place is sacred. Unlike the dining room table, the kitchen counter, the patio chaise, MY BED, the family room blankets, the living room couch, the floor in the foyer, the stairs, Finn's truck half parked in the garage and half outside on the driveway-"

"Finn's truck? How did the neighbors not see?", Santana laughed.

"Oh that was quite the feat. I couldn't tell anything was going on, other than Finn's weird parking job, until I parked on the left side of the driveway, and then got out of the car, going around the back of it to avoid the bushes, and walked between the cars. That is when I heard it and before I could register what was going on, Finn's butt was nearly in my face against the window."

"I can totally park better than that, but Rachel was um…"

"Rachel was using her lack of a gag reflex.", Santana finished for him.

"How come our conversations always end up going back to Finchel sex?", Kurt asked. "Also, is everyone okay with our noise ordinance?"

"Uh, what happens if we violate the ordinance?", Finn asked.

"I was going to suggest doing everyone's dishes for a week."

"Fair enough."

"Score!", Santana exclaimed, excited that she wouldn't have to do any dishes when Finn was in town.

Finn ignored Santana, and looked at the clock before whispering to Rachel, "Hey, Rach, it's only 8 on a school night, but do you wanna get ready for bed?"

Rachel giggled and then said, "Well I think that was a very productive roomie meeting. Good night everyone."

Kurt groaned, but then yelled, "Wait, you two need your keys!".

He ran to his room and brought out the new keys and handed them out.

Finn looked at him and said, "Thanks man. It's really cool that I have my own key."

"Finn, you live here now. Maybe not permanently yet, but this is your home too."

Rachel just smiled up at Finn, linked hands with him and walked off to their room. THEIR room, she thought again. That just sounds right.


End file.
